Griezmann set for Barcelona league debut; Coutinho absent
Antoine Griezmann and Frenkie de Jong will make their first LaLiga appearances for Barcelona, but Philippe Coutinho is not involved as he is going on loan to Bayern Munich.
Antoine Griezmann makes his LaLiga debut for Barcelona against Athletic Bilbao on Friday, but Philippe Coutinho is not involved.
The France international, who joined from Atletico Madrid for €120million in the close season, starts in attack alongside Luis Suarez and Ousmane Dembele at San Mames.
There is no place in the squad for Coutinho, who is going on loan to Bayern Munich, as confirmed by Barcelona director Guillermo Amor. Bayern will have a purchase option.
De Jong makes Barcelona debut
Frenkie de Jong makes his first league outing for Barca and lines up alongside Sergi Roberto and Carles Alena in midfield, while Sergio Busquets, Samuel Umtiti and Ivan Rakitic are named among the substitutes.
Lionel Messi will not feature due to a calf injury that kept the club captain out of Barca's friendly matches against Napoli in the United States last week.