Barcelona will look to maintain their perfect start to La Liga this season with a win over Athletic Club Bilbao on Saturday, to pile the pressure on Atlético and Real ahead of this week's Madrid derby later in the day. With two wins, four goals scored and zero conceded, Barca look in good shape and although Athletic have been impressive at the new San Mamés Stadium, they opened the season away from home and lost to Málaga.
New coach Luis Enrique has enjoyed something of a boost with Thomas Vermaelen expected to be fit, depite the news that fellow new signing Jeremy Mathieu is unlikely to feature at the back with an ankle injury. Athletic haven't won at the Camp Nou in 13 years and history suggests that, that is unlikely to change, with Barca losing just two of their last 76 league games on home soil.
Despite suffering with niggles in the past few weeks, Enrique has suggested that star duo Lionel Messi and Neymar are likely to start together for the first time this season, with Luis Suarez still out of contention with his ban. "Messi is ready, he has trained with the group," said the new man in charge."Neymar is a special player. He is in the right condition to play." With Messi sitting just two goals below the 400 mark for club and country, Saturday could well be an historic day for the man who is already the club's all-time highest scorer.
Meanwhile, Enrique has also been speaking about their opponents ahead of what could be a big game at the top with Athletic finishing fourth in La Liga last season - albeit 17 points behind the top three. "Pressure and strategy are two of Bilbao's great weapons," he added. "We will try to counteract that and the players have been warned. They don't hesitate. They go on the attack and dominate many aspects of the game." After their fantastic showing in Champions League qualifying against Napoli, Athletic have shown themselves to be a serious team already this season and will not be taken lightly.
Away from the action itself, Barcelona have made big news in recent days by announcing that they will wear their away kit - featuring the red and yellow colours of the Catalan Senyera flag - though they have denied that it is a show of support for the Catalan independence movement, for which Gerard Piqué joined a march last week. “The Senyera shirt is not being worn because of the 11 September [National Day]", the club have said. "We are doing it to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the fall of Barcelona at the hands of the troops of Philip V and the French in 1714.” Against the fiercely Basque Athletic team, this could add to a potentially feisty occasion.