Barcelona's Lionel Messi (middle) works on two Athletic Bilbao defenders. (Photo : Reuters)
FC Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao will battle it out for the 2015 Supercopa de España title from August 14 to 17. The championship was set for two legs with the first one scheduled on Friday at the San Mamés Stadium in Bilbao, Spain.
The Supercopa de España, or the Spanish Super Cup, is a football contest between the champions of La Liga and the Copa del Rey. Since Barça won both tournaments, Copa del Rey runner-up Athletic Bilbao will represent the oldest Spanish football tourney in the match up.
Lionel Messi will once again lead Luis Enrique's attack as his team is highly favored to win this match against Los Leones. Messi's forward partner, Neymar Jr. of Brazil, will miss the encounter as he was sidelined by a viral infection, as reported by Goal.
Even so, the Camp Nou giants still have plenty of weapons to choose from such as Luis Suárez, Pedro, Andrés Iniesta, Rafinha, and Sergio Busquets.
At the backfield, defender Jordi Alba will also be out for Barça due to a leg injury. He is expected to be replaced in the starting lineup by Frenchman Jérémy Mathieu.
The Lions have just finished the third qualifying round of the 2015-2016 UEFA Europa League with an aggregate 2-0 win over Azerbaijan Premier League club Inter Baku PIK, as per SkySports, to advance in the Playoff round of the said competitions.
The prediction is a big 4-1 victory for the Catalonians as they will continue their dominance over Athletic Club of Bilbao.
FC Barcelona starting lineup (4-3-3 formation): ter Stegen; Mascherano, Alves, Piqué, Mathieu; Busquets, Iniesta, Rafinha; Pedro, Messi, Suárez
Athletic Bilbao starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Herrerin; Balenziaga, Laporte, Etxeita, de Marcos; Benat, San Jose; Aketxe, Eraso Goni, de Moral; Aduriz
