Game Preview

FC Barcelona vs. Athletic Bilbao

Emily Kratz
1/17/16
Tonight, Sunday January 17th, the matchup of FC Barcelona and
Athletic Bilbao from La Liga will occur. It will be on Barcelonas home
turf. Barcelona is out for revenge after losing to Athletic in the
Supercopa at the start of the season. FC Barcelona is currently 2nd in
the standings with 42 points, just 2 points away from Atletico Madrid in
1st place. Athletic Bilbao is in 8th place with 28 points.
FC Barcelona has the best scoring trio in the league with Luis
Suarez, Lionel Messi, and Neymar Jr. Luis Suarez and Neymar are the
top scorers in the league with 15 goals. Lionel Messi has 9 goals this
season and won the 2015 FIFA Ballon dOr award. Those three scorers
arent the only players to look out for in this match. Andres Iniesta is
usually the playmaker and Pique is the top defender on the team and
considered one of the best in the league.
Barcelona is famous for their tiki-taka playing style, meaning
they out pass any opponent with short passing and movement. During
play they form triangles on the field to connect passes to each other so
this strategy will definitely be implemented tonight against Athletic.
Athletic Bilbaos best scorer is Artiz Aduriz, who is on the top
scorers list for La Liga with 11 goals but he is suspended and will not
play in this match. This could definitely hurt Athletic offensively. Inaki
Williams, also on the list, has 6 goals and will most likely be a key
player for his team. Another valuable player Athletic will be without is
Raul Garcia, who is suffering from a recent knee injury.
Tonight, the 2nd place team, Barcelona are expected to win but
Athletic will definitely put up a strong fight.