Barcelona vs Athletic Bilbao: Spanish Super Cup 2015, Schedule, Predictions, Rosters, Stream & Preview
Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao will play each other in the second leg of the 2015 Spanish Super Cup on Monday afternoon.
Athletic Bilbao already won the first leg of this cup, 4-0 at home. This won't be an easy test for Barcelona, but it should be up for the challenge. Let's preview the game and pick a winner.
Barcelona
Barcelona fans were stunned by the outcome on Thursday. Its 4-0 defeat was the first time Barcelona had allowed four goals in consecutive games dating back to 2001. Obviously not having Neymar (who has the mumps) on the field hurts, but Barcelona's defense was terrible in Game 1.
Barcelona is the most successful team in Spanish Super Cup history with 11 championships. Real Madrid has the second most ever with nine. The last seven winners have been Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid or Barcelona. Barcelona's last title came in 2013.
It was just a few days ago that Barcelona defeated Sevilla 5-4 to win the UEFA Super Cup thanks to two goals from Lionel Messi. Pedro eventually scored the game-winning goal in extra time to give Barcelona the victory. Maybe Barcelona is just tired. It feels like every week it is defending a title or playing for some sort of championship. Shortly another La Liga season will begin for Barcelona as well.
Marc-André ter Stegen is expected to start in net once again, but don't be surprised if Claudio Bravo gets the start this time.
This will be an extremely difficult task for Barcelona. Not only does it have to win the game, but it must defeat Athletic Bilbao by at least five goals to win this Super Cup. The Super Cup legs are a aggregate tournament combining goals from Games 1 and 2. Even if Barcelona was to beat Athletic Bilbao 4-0, it still wouldn't be enough, because of the "away goals rule."
If Barcelona were to somehow win 4-0, that means we would head into a shootout to ultimately determine a winner.
Athletic Bilbao
Confidence couldn't be higher for Ernesto Valverde's club. It defended home field with a stunning 4-0 win, and it should be able to not concede four goals in the second leg. Athletic Bilbao hasn't won the Spanish Super Cup since 1984. Interestingly, it never played for the championship that year because it won La Liga and the Copa del Rey.
Barcelona won both this year, but the rules have since been changed to the winner of both La Liga and the Copa del Rey facing the runner up. Barcelona fans are fully aware of the new rules, and probably wouldn't have a problem going back to the original way.
Mikel San José scored the first goal against Barcelona, and Athletic Bilbao never looked back. Aritz Aduriz recorded a hat trick scoring three goals in just a 14 minute span. One of those goals came by way of penalty kick. As long as Athletic Bilbao is able to control the ball, and waste time, it should be fine. Again, as long as it doesn't lose this game by four goals, Athletic Bilbao wins the 2015 Spanish Super Cup.
Gorka Iraizoz will be starting in net again for Athletic Bilbao.
Schedule, Where to Watch
Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao will play each other on Monday, Aug. 17 on ESPN2 at 4 p.m. ET. The game will be played at the Camp Nou Stadium in Barcelona, Spain. You can watch a live game stream here.
Prediction
Luis Suarez has come up clutch for Barcelona in so many big games, as has Messi, but this may just be too much to overcome. Barcelona will have the crowd at its back cheering it on, but only time will if that's enough to pull off the greatest comeback in Spanish Super Cup history.
Barcelona wins 2-1. Athletic Bilbao wins Super Cup 5-2.
Follow Damon Salvadore on Twitter @DamonSalvadore1
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