Spanish Super Cup: Athletic Bilbao vs Barcelona Live

Marc-Andre ter Stegen will likely continue between the sticks given the Supercopa’s status as a cup competition, although in all honesty, as a goalkeeper, he will be the least affected by Tuesday.

Bilbao will be without several key players for Friday’s Spanish Super Cup clash, with Ander Iturraspe and Mikel Rico both expected to miss out on starting spots.

Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao will face off three times in less than 10 days, as they will also meet in the opening round of Primera Division. They triumphed over Italian champions Juventus.

If Barcelona can win here they will be on their way to win a 12th Super Cup title; Athletic meanwhile have won just one Super Cup previously.

On Monday, it was Pedro Rodriguez who proved to be the unlikely hero for Barcelona as the wantaway winger came off the bench to smash home the victor with five minutes left in extra time after Barca had conspired to throw away a 4-1 second-half lead. Athletic Bilbao don’t have an impressive track record against the Catalans and were clearly outplayed in the most recent encounter. I will not get involved in any more controversy. Bilbao lost one and finished the other three games with deadlocks.

The Nou Camp did suffer a few seasons of turbulence after a switch in managers, but they now look settled and back to their best after an incredible treble season last season.

Some shaky pre-season performances haven’t done him much good, and it’s tough to see him getting in ahead of either of the two first choices for a while. However, their last head-to-head was at the Copa del Rey final, where Barcelona dominated with a 3-1 victory at the Cam Nou.

The first leg of the Spanish Super Cup will be played on Friday night between Athletic Bilbao and Barcelona. Barcelona are clear favorites but with Sevilla having dragged them into extra time on Tuesday, Bilbao can’t be written off just yet.

Valverde confirmed using Balenziaga to follow Messi around the pitch could be an option in the Supercopa first leg, although the 51-year-old conceded Barca’s talisman is hard to man-mark.