{"id":14186,"date":"2026-03-07T00:55:34","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T00:55:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=14186"},"modified":"2026-03-07T00:55:34","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T00:55:34","slug":"athletic-bilbao-vs-barcelona-la-liga-teams-start-lineups-kickoff-time-football-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=14186","title":{"rendered":"Athletic Bilbao vs Barcelona: La Liga \u2013 teams, start, lineups, kickoff time | Football News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div><button class=\"article-listen-container\" aria-labelledby=\"listen-text listen-duration\" data-testid=\"listen-to-article-button\"><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"article-listen-container__text\" data-testid=\"listen-to-article-text\">Listen to this article<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">\u00a0|\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"article-listen-container__duration\">5 mins<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/button><button tabindex=\"0\" class=\"tooltip-accessible_trigger\"><svg class=\"icon icon--info icon--main-grey-dark icon--16 listen-to-article-tooltip__icon\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\"><title>info<\/title><path class=\"icon-main-color\" d=\"M12 0a12 12 0 1 0 0 24 12 12 0 0 0 0-24Zm-.226 3.225a2.039 2.039 0 0 1 2.155 1.924v.193a1.998 1.998 0 0 1-2.155 2.149 2.029 2.029 0 0 1-2.146-2.15 2.039 2.039 0 0 1 1.955-2.122h.193l-.002.006Zm3.227 15.525a.75.75 0 0 1-.752.75H9.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.75h.748V12h-.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.751h3a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.752v6.75h.75a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.749L15 18.75Z\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p><strong>Who:<\/strong> Athetlic Bilbao vs Barcelona<br \/><strong>What:<\/strong> La Liga<br \/><strong>Where:<\/strong> San Mames, Bilbao, Spain<br \/><strong>When:<\/strong> Saturday, March 7, at 9pm (20:00 GMT)<br \/><strong>How to follow:<\/strong> Al Jazeera\u2019s live coverage begins at 17:00 GMT.<\/p>\n<p>Barcelona manager Hansi Flick is confident his side will not be derailed by injuries as \u2060they prepare to visit Athletic Bilbao on Saturday, aiming to restore their four-point lead over Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 3 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>Their fierce rivals beat Celta Vigo 2-1, thanks to an injury-time goal by Federico Valverde on Friday to close the gap.<\/p>\n<p>Barcelona\u2019s game at Bilbao is a game in hand and marks an important moment to keep their rivals at arm\u2019s length in the run-in.<\/p>\n<p>Al Jazeera Sport takes a closer look at the match.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"barcelona-shrug-off-injury-list-ahead-of-bilbao-trip\">Barcelona shrug off injury list ahead of Bilbao trip<\/h2>\n<p>Barca suffered injuries to \u2060defenders Jules Kounde and Alejandro Balde during their 3-0 win over Atletico Madrid in the Copa del Rey semifinal on Tuesday, a result that was not enough to overturn a four-goal deficit from the first leg.<\/p>\n<p>Midfielders Frenkie de Jong and Gavi also \u200cremain sidelined, but striker Robert Lewandowski is fit for the Athletic clash.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese things happen. I\u2019m not happy,\u201d Flick told reporters on Friday. \u201cWe have to talk about what we can improve. That is always my responsibility. It\u2019s not on the medical staff or the physios \u2013 it\u2019s my responsibility.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want to talk to the doctors, the physios and the technical staff to see what we \u2060can do better. It\u2019s about managing the team, and \u2060it\u2019s not pleasant, especially at such a crucial moment. But we\u2019re optimistic. This gives other players the opportunity to show how good they are.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Real\u2019s shock 1-0 home loss to Getafe on Monday \u2060left leaders Barca four points clear after 26 matches. Athletic sit ninth.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s still a long way to go until \u2060the end of May. There are many games \u2060left. On Tuesday, we had two more injuries \u2026 We have to deal with it and move on. We need to stay optimistic about the things we can\u2019t change,\u201d Flick said.<\/p>\n<p>Although Barca failed to \u200creach the Copa del Rey final, Flick said he took plenty of encouragement from their performance.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the end, it wasn\u2019t enough, and we have to accept that. \u200cBut \u200cmy feeling is that we are at a very high level \u2013 and that should give us confidence,\u201d the German added.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"athletic-bilbao-have-similar-team-news-issues\">Athletic Bilbao have similar team news issues<\/h2>\n<p>Yeray Alvarez is suspended for the match, while Nico Williams, Benat Prados, Unai Egiluz and Maroan Sannadi are all injured.<\/p>\n<p>There were no further injuries for the Bilbao side in their 1-0 defeat by Real Sociedad, but whether Valverde decides to change the team given the result remains to be seen.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"what-happened-the-last-time-athletic-bilbao-played-barcelona\">What happened the last time Athletic Bilbao played Barcelona?<\/h2>\n<p>Barcelona thumped Bilbao 5-0 in their Spanish Super Cup semifinal in January.<\/p>\n<p>Raphinha netted twice to send the Catalan club through to the final.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"what-happened-in-the-last-league-meeting-between-athletic-bilbao-and-barcelona\">What happened in the last league meeting between Athletic Bilbao and Barcelona?<\/h2>\n<p>It was a similarly grim tale for Bilbao in the reverse fixture in La Liga this season as they lost 4-0 at Barcelona in December.<\/p>\n<p>Ferran Torres came up with a double on this occasion for Barca.<\/p>\n<p>When did Athletic Bilbao last beat Barcelona?<\/p>\n<p>The Bilbao club\u2019s last win against Barca came seven matches ago, with a 4-2 in January 2024 in a Copa del Rey fixture.<\/p>\n<p>The match required extra time, having finished 2-2 after normal time, with Inaki Williams and Nico Williams coming up with the goals to send Bilbao through.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"stat-attack-athletic-bilbao-vs-barcelona\">Stat attack \u2013 Athletic Bilbao vs Barcelona<\/h2>\n<p>Barcelona are unbeaten in 12 La Liga matches against Bilbao, with their last defeat coming at San Mames in 2019.<\/p>\n<p>Barca have won 10 of the following matches, scoring 26 goals and conceding only five goals in that run.<\/p>\n<p>Bilbao have only scored once in the last eight La Liga matches against Barcelona.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"head-to-head\">Head-to-head<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Matches played: 246<\/li>\n<li>Barcelona wins: 126<\/li>\n<li>Athletic Bilbao wins: 80<\/li>\n<li>Draws: 40<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 id=\"predicted-athletic-bilbao-team\">Predicted Athletic Bilbao team<\/h2>\n<p>Simon; Vivian, Paredes, Laporte, Boiro; Rego, Ruiz de Galarreta; I Williams, Sancet, Berenguer; Guruzeta<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"predicted-barcelona-team\">Predicted Barcelona team<\/h2>\n<p>J Garcia; Cancelo, Cubarsi, E Garcia, Martin; Bernal, Pedri; Yamal, Fermin, Raphinha; F Torres<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"athletic-bilbao-and-barcelona-form-guides\">Athletic Bilbao and Barcelona form\u00a0 guides<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Athletic Bilbao\u2019s last five matches (all competitions \u2013 most recent result last):<strong><br \/>L W W D L<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Barcelona\u2019s last five matches (all competitions \u2013 most recent result last):<br \/><strong>L L W W W\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Listen to this article\u00a0|\u00a05 mins info Who: Athetlic Bilbao vs BarcelonaWhat: La LigaWhere: San Mames, Bilbao, SpainWhen: Saturday, March 7, at 9pm (20:00 GMT)How to follow: Al Jazeera\u2019s live coverage begins at 17:00 GMT. Barcelona manager Hansi Flick is confident his side will not be derailed by injuries as \u2060they prepare to visit Athletic Bilbao [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14187,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14186\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}