Barcelona sign off for the season, with an away game against Athletic Club at San Mames on Sunday night. This is the very final match of La Liga 2024/25, although there’s little at stake for either side.
Athletic Club have now sealed Champions League qualification and they will finish fourth, regardless of the result here. While their failure to make this week’s Europa League final in their own stadium is still a bitter disappointment for Athletic fans, they can still reflect on a strong league campaign.
They’ve kept clean sheets in their last five league matches to seal a return to Europe’s elite competition, and that will make this a tough final game for this free-scoring Barcelona side.
The Catalans sealed the title when they won 2-0 away to neighbours Espanyol the week before last. A reported 670,000 fans took to the streets of Barcelona to celebrate their league win the following day, and there were perhaps still a few hangovers in the Barca camp as they suffered a 3-2 defeat at home to Villarreal last weekend.
How the bookies view it: Flick’s men the even-money favourites
BoyleSports make Barcelona the favourites to win this game at 1/1. Athletic have only lost once at home in the league since the opening day of last season though, so some punters may like the look of Los Leones at 21/10, while the draw is priced at 11/4.
Recent head-to-head: Barca always get a tough game at San Mames
Barcelona have only won on one of their last five competitive visits to Bilbao. They’ve suffered two Copa del Rey exits on this ground in the 2020s, and drew 0-0 here in La Liga last term under Xavi.
Players to watch: Lamine to hit the target
Lamine Yamal has been in great form of late, with some stunning goals helping his side clinch the title. The teenager has had two or more shots on target in seven of his last eight games, and you can back him to have over 1.5 shots on target at 15/8 with Paddy Power in this one.
Predicted Lineups
There are no major issues for Athletic, although Nico Williams may only make the bench on his return from injury.
As for Barcelona, we may see light changes from Hansi Flick, but he went strong last weekend in a meaningless game, and may do the same again. Ferran Torres and Jules Kounde are both injury absentees once more.
Athletic Club: Simon, Yuri, Vivian, Paredes, De Marcos, Jauregizar, Ruiz de Galarreta, Berenguer, Sancet, I. Williams, Sannadi.
Barcelona: Ter Stegen, Balde, Martinez, Christensen, E. Garcia, De Jong, Pedri, Raphinha, Olmo, Yamal, Lewandowski.
Anything else catch the eye?
Barcelona have shown signs of fatigue at points over the past few weeks and they have only won one of their last 11 games by more than a single goal. In such a tough fixture, there could be value in backing Barcelona to win by one goal at 3/1 with BoyleSports.
The same bookmaker has odds of 23/20 for the visitors to win under 4.5 corners in this game. Barca are winning a lot fewer corners away than at home, and may not rack up too many here, given Athletic have given away just 3.33 corners per game on average in La Liga at San Mames this term.
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