Barcelona’s possible starting line-up vs Athletic in LaLiga week 25

Xavi Hernández is expected to make four changes to his Barcelona side at Athletic Club on Sunday, as the LaLiga leaders bid to re-establish their nine-point advantage over Real Madrid.

Madrid stay in touch ahead of Clásico

On Saturday, second-placed Madrid cut the gap to a provisional six points, goals by Vinícius Júnior, Éder Militão and Marco Asensio earning Los Blancos a 3-1 win over Espanyol at the Bernabéu.

Barça and Madrid meet at the Camp Nou next weekend in a crunch top-of-the-table Clásico.

Barça to welcome Lewandowski, Gavi back against Athletic

Central defender Ronald Araújo misses Barça’s trip to Bilbao after his sending-off in last Sunday’s 1-0 win at Valencia, so Marcos Alonso is set to come in for the Uruguayan at San Mamés. Alonso would operate as the left-hand centre-back, with Andreas Christensen switching to Araújo’s right-sided role.

Franck Kessié is likely to replace Sergio Roberto in midfield against Athletic, and Robert Lewandowski is poised to return at centre-forward after sitting out Barça’s last two games with a hamstring injury. Ferran Torres is expected to make way for the Pole.

Having served a one-match ban against Valencia, Gavi is also set to come back into the Barça line-up, the 18-year-old replacing Ansu Fati.

Barcelona’s possible line-up against Athletic Club:

Ter Stegen; Koundé, Christensen, Marcos Alonso, Balde; Kessié, Busquets, De Jong; Raphinha, Lewandowski, Gavi.

Substitutes:

Arnau Tenas, Iñaki Peña, Sergi Roberto, Alba, Eric, Alarcón, Pablo Torre, Ferran Torres and Ansu Fati.

See also:

Video - Lewandowski: “Now I understand the meaning of ‘mes que un club’”