FC Barcelona come into their 21st La Liga game of the 2016-17 season on Saturday against a tough Athletic Club (Bilbao) side. Lionel Messi and Co. registered a victory against Atletico Madrid in their first leg Copa del Rey semi final game in the midweek and that may have helped them boost their morale.
Read: Messi, Suarez, Neymar could get a new strike partner!
Barca are currently second in La Liga, behind arch-rivals Real Madrid. They are undefeated from their last six Spanish league games, while Athletic Club have one defeat only from their last six La Liga fixtures.
Athletic Bilbao, at the moment, are seventh in the points table.
The best news for Barcelona, apart from the return of form for Messi and Luis Suarez, remains the return of the terrific duo Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets as well as Lucas Digne after an injury spell.
''It's great news to be able to have players back after injury," said Barca coach Luis Enrique at the pre-match presser. ''Playing every three days is very demanding physically for my players, they only have two days to recover.
''However, that is something we have to live with if we want to chase three trophies [La Liga, Copa del Rey, UEFA Champions League].''
Barcelona and Athletic Club Bilbao have had up to ten meetings in the past year and a half. Their last encounter turned out to be a 3-1 victory for Barca in the Copa del Rey 2016-17 round of 16.
Expected starting XI
Barcelona: ter Stegen; Roberto, Pique, Umtiti, Alba; Mascherano, Rakitic, Arda; Messi, Suarez, Neymar.
Athletic Club: Iraizoz; de Marcos, Laporte, Etxeita, Balenziaga; San Jose, Benat; Williams, Garcia, Susaeta; Aduriz.
Match schedule
Date: February 4
Time: 3:15 pm GMT (8:45 pm IST, 10:15 am EST)
Venue: Camp Nou
Where to watch live
India: TV: Sony Six and Sony Six HD. Live Streaming: Sonyliv.
Spain: TV: beIN La Liga. Live streaming: beIN Sports Connect Espana.
UK: No telecast.
USA: TV: beIN Sports, fubo TV. Live Streaming: beIN Sports Connect.
Radio commentary: Radio Barca.
Live score: Twitter.
