FC Barcelona cannot bask in the plaudits of their quadruple anymore. Following their humbling 5-1 Supercopa defeat to Athletic Bilbao earlier this month, and plagued with a severely-ailed squad, Blaugrana better get their game face on to start the 2015-16 La Liga season off well.

And who better to spoil that then Bilbao themselves, Aritz Aduriz and all, the side who thwarted Barcelona just last week in that Supercopa final. Aduriz scored four times, across the two legs, into manager Luis Enrique's net and will hope to replicate that same performance. 

Current Form

While Bilbao looked unstoppable in their embarrassment of the 2015 UEFA Champions League and La Liga champions (along with the Copa Del Rey and UEFA Super Cup), they struggled in their Europa League qualifier matchup against Slovakian side Zilina on Thursday.

Manager Ernesto Valverde rested Aduriz for that match, but the side looked anew in the 3-2 loss. 

"We are disappointed with the result as it's unfair considering what we did on the pitch," said Valverde. "Now we must turn around the tie next week if we are to compete in Europe."

Athletic finished seventh in La Liga last season, and with a fully-fledged team to start the seasont, they hope to advance to a Champions League slot for the upcoming year. 

The side are without striker Inaki Williams, who should not be too much of a loss, especially in another season opener with Barcelona, considering Barça's heavily-exhausted opening day defense coming into the match Sunday.

Gerard Pique is serving a the first of a four-game suspension he picked up in the 1-1 second-leg of Barcelona's Supercopa loss, and fellow center back Jeremy Mathieu will be on the sideline serving a suspension of his own.

Jordi Alba will be returning from injury at the full back, but there are more absences that Barça have to worry about up front. Neymar was ruled out Saturday with a case of mumps. 

With Spanish second-stringer left-winder Pedro introduced this week at new club Chelsea, stepping in the Brazlian youngster's place will be either Sandro Ramirez or Munir El-Haddadi. He will start alongside Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, two seasoned veterans who serve as constant nightmares to opposing defenses and goalkeepers.

Gorka Iraizoz wasn't too intimidated in the Supercopa stage, but a whole new season of La Liga brings a whole new intensity to Messi's unit.

Attack to decide this match

Messi and Suarez led the front line of Barcelona along with the injured Neymar in 2014-15, combining among the three of them for an astonishing 122 goals. 

The Argentine forward who some consider the best on the planet scored Barça's lone goal in the 1-1 draw last week, however he is still trying to recover from a Copa America loss to Chile earlier this summer.

Newly-named captain Andres Iniesta wants to make it clear that the prior loss to Bilbao won't change the team's approach.

“We have only lost one title,” Iniesta said. “Now it is time to pick ourselves up and focus on the league. Nobody is tired and there is no lack of heart.”

Aduriz will be the obvious area of focus on the other side of the pitch. He will be going at a core defense of Marc Bartra and Javier Mascherano, and by the looks of his performance in the Supercopa final, he is in no way going to let them stop him from scoring an unfathomable total of goals.

"Aduriz is a striker who's scored a lot of goals and he really knows how to move," Bartra said. "He's pretty clever and we have to be at a high level. We have to avoid making individual mistakes."

Matchday info

This is the sixth time these two clubs have met on opening day, and in the recent history between the two in La Liga play has been pretty even, with the jar tipped towards the Catalans. Barcelona have won 8 of the last 16 matches against Athletic Bilbao, but not often to they play coming off such a weak performance and with a very-much filled-in Starting XI.

The match is set for a 5:30 PM GMT start time at Estadio San Mames in Bilbao, Spain. This could be a very clutch three points for Bilbao in a later-season run at a high finish. Referee Carlos Del Cerro Grande will do his best to make sure all is kept in check and as even as can be.

Luis Enrique feels his side has the advantage of fitness, due to Athletic Club's grueling defeat from Thursday. 

“Despite the fact that we have played against them twice already, the context of the game will help us more than the previous two. We'll be fresher with more good training sessions under our belt while, on the other hand, Athletic are coming off a demanding and important game,” he said.

While both sides have an upper hand in certain areas, it will be a chess match to the end between the two managers. There should not be any shortage of goals put up on the scoreboard, but it all depends on who is better prepared to handle the adjustment back to league play best.

“We know we can beat them and we know the level of concentration required to do it," said Athletic manager Ernesto Valverde. "We’re going to go all out.”

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About the author
Zach Drapkin
Philadelphia-based journalist with expertise in basketball, football, and soccer/fútbol.