Two clubs in the top half of the Liga BBVA table will do battle today in a league match between Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao. The first-division clash scheduled for 10 a.m. ET will be held at the Nou Camp in Barcelona and can be live streamed here free. Additional TV coverage can be found on beIN Sports.
Barcelona's Jordi Alba had this to offer ahead of today's league encounter (via Inside Spanish Football): "The arrival of Luis Enrique has been a very good change. I think we needed it as a team. We all know what type of character he was as a player here at Barça, and now we're seeing it as a coach."
"He is the one who pulls the strings for us," he added. "I think people should think about what they are saying sometimes, when they criticized him. We know that things didn't go perfect at the end of last season, but that could be said for a lot of us, including myself."
Tactical Preview
Player to Watch: Athletic Bilbao's Iker Muniain has been instrumental in the club's early season success. In two appearances, the 21-year-old has one goal and is averaging two key passes and six take-ons per match.
Barcelona's Projected Lineup (4-3-3): Bravo; Alba, Mascherano, Piqué, Alves; Iniesta, Busquets, Rakitic; Neymar, Messi, Pedro
Athletic Bilbao's Projected Lineup (4-2-3-1): Iraizoz; Balenziaga, Laporte, Jose, Marcos; Rico, Iturraspe; Muniain, Benat, Susaeta; Aduriz
Note: Credit all statistics to officially licensed data from Opta Sports (lineups and statistics via WhoScored).
Standings
| Rnk | Team | MP | W | D | L | GF | GA | +/- | Pts | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FC Barcelona | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 6 | |||
| 2 | Valencia CF | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | |||
| 3 | Celta de Vigo | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | |||
| 4 | Granada CF | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | |||
| 4 | Sevilla FC | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | |||
| 6 | Atlético Madrid | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |||
| 7 | Athletic Club | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | |||
| 8 | Real Sociedad | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 | |||
| 9 | Villarreal CF | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |||
| 10 | Real Madrid CF | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 3 | |||
| 11 | Eibar | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | |||
| 12 | Getafe CF | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 3 | |||
| 13 | Málaga CF | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -2 | 3 | |||
| 14 | Rayo Vallecano | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | |||
| 15 | UD Almería | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 2 | |||
| 16 | Córdoba CF | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | -2 | 2 | |||
| 17 | Deportivo La Coruña | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -1 | 1 | |||
| 18 | RCD Espanyol | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 1 | |||
| 19 | Elche CF | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | -3 | 1 | |||
| 20 | Levante UD | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | -5 | 0 |
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