Barcelona – Ath Bilbao Prediction & Picks (18.03.2018)

Barcelona and Athletic Club meet at Camp Nou, in a match for the 29 th round of the First Division. In the last direct confrontation for this edition of the league, on 10-28-2017, Barcelona won out by (0-2). In this stadium, the history of direct confrontations is favorable to the home team, which records 7 wins and 1 draw in the last 8 matches. In fact, the last time these two teams played a match at this stadium was on 04-02-2017, in a match for the First Division that ended with the victory of Barcelona by (3-0). The goals of the match were scored by Paco Alcácer (18 ‘), L. Messi (40’) and Aleix Vidal (67 ‘) for Barcelona.

Barcelona

After 22 wins and 6 draws, the home team is currently in the 1 st position, with 72 points won. In the last match, they have won in an away match against Málaga (0-2), after in the previous match they have won (1-0) at home, against Atlético Madrid. In their last match, for the UEFA Champions League, they beat Chelsea at home (3-0).

For this competition, he has not lost 28 games. In their home league matches the most frequent result at half-time was the 2-0 (5 out of 13 matches). Their attack has scored regularly, since they have scored goals in 9 of the last 10 matches for this competition. In their home matches there is a tendency for goals, since 9 of the last 13 matches for this competition have ended with Over 2,5 goals. In 28 matches played in this competition, he got the comeback in 4 of the 8 games in which he suffered the first goal.

Barcelona has in this exhibition the opportunity to conquer its third consecutive victory at home by the Spanish League and thus continue comfortably in the leadership of the competition. The local club, which has just secured qualification for the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals, comes from two consecutive victories, a period in which he has not suffered a goal. The last victory took place away from home, against Málaga, in a game in which he was far superior to the opponent, having finished more than three times, guaranteeing victory even in the first half. As expected, Barcelona owns the best attack of the competition, with an average of 2.57 goals per game, and his defense is the second best. The club is one of only two that still remain undefeated at home, being that in that condition did not suffer goals in eight games. The 4-3-3 or 4-4-2 should be the tactical scheme used in this duel, with a highlight for young Dembélé.

Athletic Club

After 8 wins, 11 draws and 9 losses, the away team is currently in the 12 th position of the league, with 35 points won. In their last match, they won against CD Leganés at home (2-0), after in the previous match they lost out in a game against Sevilla, by (2-0). In their last match, for the UEFA Europa League, they lost with Olympique Marseille at home (1-2). In the last 10 away league matches Athletic Club Bilbao has a record of 2 wins, 3 draws and 5 losses, so they have won 9 points out of 30 possible. The team allowed goals to the opponent in 8 of the last 10 matches for this competition, so it was not very strong defensively. In 28 matches in this tournament, they have conceded the first goal 13 times and have only won 1 result.

Athletic Bilbao continues to have a very questionable performance in this edition of the Spanish championship, since it has only two wins in the last ten games, running the risk of suffering its fourth consecutive defeat as a visitor in the competition. On the last day, the team at least did the duty of home and in an inspired performance of Garcia managed to defeat the Leganés. As was evident in this confrontation, the team is not only in a worse situation due to the consistency of its defensive system, which is currently among the best six of the competition. Playing away from home won less than a third of the points played and in that condition is already unmarked goals three games ago. The 4-2-3-1 has been the tactical formation adopted by the coach, which will probably keep San José as a reference in midfield.