MADRID, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- Athletic Bilbao entertain reigning La Liga champions FC Barcelona in the opening game of the 2019-20 season on Friday night.
The game is a fitting opener to the new campaign, between two of the three sides never to have been relegated from the Spanish top flight, and with the game coming on the eve of Bilbao's week-long annual fiesta, a full house is assured, with tickets having sold out in a matter of hours.
Barcelona travel to the San Mames Stadium after a promising pre-season in which new signings Frenkie de Jong and Antoine Griezmann look to have slotted seamlessly into Ernesto Valverde's side, although goalkeeper Norbeto Neto is out for two months after breaking a bone in his left wrist, and left back Junior Firpo may need more time to adapt.
Valverde, who previously had two spells in charge of Athletic, is under pressure at the start of the campaign, after seeing his side knocked out of the Champions League semifinal after a 4-0 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield at the end of last season, and suffering a 2-1 loss to Valencia in the final of the Copa del Rey.
He will almost certainly be without Lionel Messi for Friday's game, as the Argentinian puts the final touches to his recovery from a pre-season calf injury. Messi didn't start either of Barca's two matches against Athletic last season, with both games ending tied.
Luis Suarez, Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele should still pose a potent threat to an Athletic defense which is likely to be without Spain international defender Inigo Martinez, as well as wingers Ibai Gomez and Inigo Cordoba.
The Basque side enjoyed a good pre-season themselves, with coach Gaizka Garitano forming what looks to be a well-organized unit featuring the competitiveness of Raul Garcia, the guile of Iker Muniain and the pace of Inaki Williams in attack.
Williams extended his contract at the start of the week, and the striker, who netted 13 goals last season, will be the biggest threat to Barca on Friday.
