Match Today: Barcelona vs Athletic Bilbao 23-10-2022 La Liga

Barcelona will try to achieve consecutive victories in the Spanish League when they welcome Athletic Bilbao at the Camp Nou on Sunday evening.

The Catalan team is currently in second place in the table, three points behind leaders Real Madrid in the same number of matches, while Athletic is sixth, two points behind Atletico Madrid, who is fourth.

Barcelona suffered its first defeat in the Spanish League this season in the Clasico last weekend, as Real Madrid achieved a 3-1 victory at the Bernabeu, and then the defending champions overcame six points at the top by defeating Elche on Wednesday evening.

As a result, there was pressure on Barcelona ahead of Thursday's match with Villarreal, but a strong performance allowed the Catalans to cut the difference to three points, as Robert Lewandowski scored twice before Ansu Fati scored in a 3-0 win over Camp. no.

Xavi's team will be delighted with the start of the league season, having collected 25 points from 10 matches, scored 24 goals in the process and conceded only four. However, the team faces a big battle to qualify for the knockout stage of the Champions League, with four points from four matches, which It puts him third in Group C, three points behind second-placed Inter Milan.

Barcelona will welcome Bayern Munich at the Camp Nou in the competition next week, but their hopes of reaching the round of 16 may be over by the time the match kicks off, as Inter will play earlier against Viktoria Plzen, and a victory. The Italian team will qualify before another match.

Meanwhile, Athletic had a strong start to the 2022-23 season, winning five, drawing three and losing two of their 10 league games, putting them in sixth place with 18 points. The Basque team is only two points behind fourth-placed Atletico in The same number of matches, but he did not achieve any victory in the last three matches, and he drew with Seville and Getafe, in addition to losing at home to Atlético.

Athletic will face Barcelona, ​​Villarreal, Girona and Real Valladolid in their four pre-season matches at the World Cup, and they expect to be in and around the top four by the time the season stops.

Ernesto Valverde's side finished eighth in La Liga last season, but they finished fourth in the 2013-14 season and certainly have a squad capable of challenging to finish Europe this season.

The Lions, who have conceded only eight goals in the league this season, have not defeated Barcelona in the league since August 2019, while they suffered a 4-0 defeat on their last visit to the Camp Nou in February. Barcelona will again miss the services of Andreas Christensen and Ronald Araujo in This weekend, Memphis Depay remains on the sidelines with a hamstring problem.

The Catalans did not have any new problems against Villarreal on Thursday, but some changes are expected from that match, with Ousmane Dembele and Eric Garcia possibly joining the squad.

Sergio Busquets and Rafinha are also pressing for redemption, but Frenkie de Jong could hold his place in midfield alongside Jaffe and Pedri, while Fati's performance would see him move away from Rafinha, with Dembele coming in to replace Ferran Torres on the other side.

Lewandowski scored his 10th and 11th goals this season against Villarreal on Thursday, and the Poland international will once again top Barcelona's streak. .