No Messi for Barca in opening match
REIGNING La Liga champions Barcelona start the season with a tough trip to face Athletic Bilbao at San Mames tonight and will be without talismanic forward Lionel Messi for the campaign’s curtainraiser.
The Argentine forward is recovering from a calf strain which kept him out of the club’s pre-season tour of the United States.
New signing Antoine Griezmann will take Messi’s place in the starting line up for his La Liga debut after a switch from Atletico Madrid this summer.
Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele will play either side of Luis Suarez as Ernesto Valverde begins his tilt at a third consecutive league title.
All three forwards scored in an impressive 4-0 win over Napoli in a friendly on August 11.
“Goalscorers are always boosted by the chances they get, by goals, it’s good for them to have a good relationship with the goal,” said Valverde.
“I am happy that all the forwards scored, including him, above all because (Griezmann) gives us a lot in attack with his movement. It’s positive to see how he’s playing.”
Barcelona supporters would like the team to play with a more classical, possession-based style and Valverde hinted at it in pre-season, giving Carles Alena and Sergi Roberto plenty of game time in midfield.
However, for the trip to the Basque country the coach might opt for more power in midfield, with either Ivan Rakitic or Arturo Vidal selected.
Atletico Madrid, who have finished second behind Barcelona in each of the past two seasons, have rebuilt a large part of their squad this summer.
Having lost key players like Griezmann, Rodrigo to Manchester City and Diego Godin to Inter Milan, Diego Simeone needed to reinforce heavily in the transfer market.
Pre-season results and performances, including a 7-3 drubbing of Real Madrid, have seen the Rojiblancos impress and they host Getafe in a Madrid derby season opener on Sunday.
Zinedine Zidane’s Real Madrid start the campaign with plenty to prove after their dismal showing last season.
They travel to Celta Vigo tomorrow after a pre-season in which they won just two of seven matches.
There is a lot of expectation surrounding Madrid’s big summer signing Eden Hazard, who joined from Chelsea and is poised to link up with Karim Benzema in attack.