Welcome back to TalkBarca. Our topic for today is the Match Preview of the Super Cup Final, FC Barcelona vs Athletic Club. FC Barcelona previously won against Real Sociedad on penalty kicks in the semi-final of the competition. The Blaugranas look very confident and have a lot of chances of winning the final. FC Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao have a long history playing against each other. They meet again in a final competition after many years. Can the Blaugranas pull this off?
FC BARCELONA VS ATHLETIC CLUB MATCH PREVIEW
Both teams have struggled during the early days of the La Liga campaign. However, they are finding a rhythm now and both are doing well. Athletic Club is much lower in the points table than FC Barcelona. However, this does not mean that they are easy opponents. Athletic Bilbao is a very difficult team to play against and they are definitely not going to go easy against FC Barcelona. The team has equal momentum which FC Barcelona has. As a matter of fact, Athletic Club beat a very difficult opponent team to reach the finals. Athletic faced off against Real Madrid in the semi-final of the competition.
Everyone expected a Classico in the Super Cup final. However, Athletic surprised everyone and proved that they are not an easy team to play against. Now, Ronald Koemann and his men have a very tough task to focus on. They have to play for the win. The fans are going to appreciate an early trophy this season and they deserve it too. Furthermore, winning this trophy is going to boost the confidence and morale of these players. Therefore, Barcelona must fight with their full zeal in order to win this competition.
The Catalans can expect similar behavior from Athletic Club as well.
The team is going to try their best to stop the Blaugranas from achieving its target of winning this trophy. Therefore, Koemann must get his tactics and planning on point so that nothing goes wrong for this one.
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM FC BARCELONA?
We can expect FC Barcelona to play in a similar fashion as they are in La Liga and against Sociedad as well. Many FC Barcelona players have found their form. This includes De Jong and Busqi as well. De Jong is now playing where he loves playing the most. The Dutch International is now enjoying a lot of freedom on the pitch and this is allowing him to create better opportunities for his team. Furthermore, Sergio Busquests is also looking very fresh and better now. Busqi was having a few problems a while back. He looks ineffective, lazy, and simply not in the mood. However, things are much better now as he is starting to deliver like he always has. Sergio Busquets’s presence in the midfield is always a relief for the team.
The Spanish CDM always helps his team to perform at a very high level. Sergio’s quick passing and decision making skills have always helped FC Barcelona to perform much faster and play better overall. Lionel Messi is a doubt for this game. However, if he plays, it is going to help the Blaugranas a lot. Messi has also found his form. He seems to enjoy his football again and is also finding the net much often now. Therefore, his presence is going to benefit the Blaugranas a lot.
The duo of Araujo and Lenglet is also doing well for the Catalans. Oscar Mingueza is going to be available as well. Pedri, Griezmann, and Dembele look promising as well. However, Grizzy needs to be much more focused now and the same applies to Ousmane Dembele.
Overall, FC Barcelona looks in good shape to take on Athletic Bilbao. However, this is going to be easier said than done. Barcelona is on a winning streak. However, it does not take much time for the Blaugranas to bottle important games. We have seen this in the past and there are likely chances of similar stuff repeating.
Therefore, Ronald Koemann must come up with full planning and proper homework if he wants to lift the trophy tonight.
CONCLUSION
This is going to be a very exciting night for not only Barca fans, but also for neutrals. We can expect good football from both sides and the tougher the match, the better for the fans. However, FC Barcelona is going to try to get the lead early on and make things easier for them. Barcelona is going to dominate with the ball because Athletic is a very physical team and therefore, Barcelona cannot out-muscle them.
Ronald Koemann’s team is definitely the favorite to win this encounter. However, this is going to take the right planning and a lot of hard work. Otherwise, this is going to turn out to be another disappointing night for the Barca fans.
