Barcelona favourites to make winning start against Athletic Club in delayed Liga fixture

Barcelona are priced at 2.95 to be awarded a penalty when they host Athletic Club Bilbao in the final outstanding fixture from the opening round of the 2026-27 Liga season on Thursday.

The reigning champions welcome the Basque side to the Camp Nou, which remains under construction, with kick-off scheduled for 19:00 GMT on 27 August 2026. Nasser Eddy, a consultant for NCI Sport and presenter of the European Champions League on radio station Nostalgie, has assessed the match and supplied his predictions.

Barcelona began their title defence in emphatic fashion on Sunday, beating Elche 5-0 after a relatively difficult first half was followed by a dominant second period. The result came a day after their main expected challengers, Real Madrid, secured a dramatic 2-1 victory at local rivals Espanyol with a late goal.

Despite the three-goal margin, Barcelona’s performance did not entirely suggest that Hansi Flick’s side are already an unstoppable force. Lamine Yamal was relatively quiet following his World Cup campaign, the team still lack a recognised centre-forward and Rodri has yet to be integrated into the squad. Those are among the issues Flick will need to address quickly.

Barcelona’s attacking strength should nevertheless be sufficient against teams of Elche’s level and, potentially, against the current Athletic Club Bilbao side. The hosts can also take encouragement from the promising debuts made by Karim Adeyemi and Anthony Gordon.

The “Blaugrana” were comfortably the highest scorers in Liga last season, finding the net 95 times, and they have started the new campaign in similar fashion. Raphinha opened the scoring from the penalty spot against Elche and has now scored the fourth Barcelona penalty of August across five matches in all competitions.

The only game during that run in which Barcelona did not win and convert a penalty was their 8 August friendly defeat by Udinese. Athletic Club Bilbao therefore face a demanding task if they are to leave the Camp Nou with anything to show for their efforts.

Athletic Club seeking a response

Athletic Club Bilbao are one of only three teams, alongside Barcelona and Real Madrid, never to have been relegated from the top flight since Liga was established in 1929. However, their recent league displays have been difficult to reconcile with the fourth-placed finish they achieved after an impressive 2024-25 campaign.

Their transfer window has also been notably quiet, with no new arrivals recorded by this point. The club have lost goalkeeper Julen Agirrezabala and midfielder Unai Gomez, while manager Edin Terzic and his players began the season with a damaging 3-1 home defeat by Sevilla last Saturday.

Unai Simon, the World Cup-winning goalkeeper, made a major mistake in front of his own goal to gift Sevilla the opening goal. The result was Athletic’s third consecutive defeat in all competitions, following pre-season losses to Olympique de Marseille and Atalanta Bergamo.

There has been an unusual pattern in Athletic’s recent matches: the number three has appeared on the scoreboard in four of their past five games, whether they scored it or conceded it.

Gordon makes immediate impact

Barcelona and Athletic Club Bilbao have met more than 240 times in official competition, making this one of Spanish football’s most established fixtures. Recent meetings have, however, been dominated by the Catalan club.

Barcelona have won the past six encounters, including convincing victories by 4-0 on 22 November and 5-0 in January in the Spanish Super Cup. Athletic have not won at the Camp Nou for many years and have also struggled to secure even a draw there.

Anthony Gordon made an immediate impression after coming off the bench in Barcelona’s victory at Elche. Introduced in the 65th minute, he needed only two minutes to provide his first assist for Raphinha, before setting up Fermin Lopez four minutes later.

Gordon is expected to be rewarded with a starting place against Athletic, potentially replacing Adeyemi, who made an encouraging debut but was less decisive.

Barcelona are priced at 1.39 to win, while a victory by a two-goal margin is available at 4.35. A bet on Barcelona to be awarded a penalty is priced at 2.95.

Barcelona v Athletic Club Bilbao takes place at the Camp Nou on Thursday, 27 August 2026, from 19:00 GMT, in the opening round of Liga.

Odds are subject to change.