Alarm bells are going off in Barcelona this week, as the leaders in the La Liga standings fell back into a tie with Real Madrid, as each team has 65 points. Barcelona settled for a draw with fourth-place Sevilla, while Real Madrid edged Real Sociedad, 2-1. Next up for Barcelona is a home match against Athletic Bilbao, currently ninth in the La Liga table with 42 points. The problems for Barcelona, both before and after the COVID-19 hiatus, center around the inability to generate offense that does not go through Lionel Messi. Messi is of course a generational talent, but teams that can devote enough resources to defending him have a great chance of muddying up the Barcelona attack. Take a look at the sports betting odds for this Tuesday match as well as our prediction. Let’s see how the La Liga Odds will be for the Barcelona vs Bilbao.
Barcelona vs Bilbao Odds & Pick June 23
- When: Tuesday, June 23, 2020, 4:00 pm ET
- Where: Camp Nou, Barcelona
- TV: beIN SPORTS
- Radio: None
- Live Stream: fuboTV
- La Liga Odds: FC Barcelona 1.38 / Draw 5.60 / Athletic Bilbao 10.00
Why should you put your money on Athletic Bilbao?
Athletic Bilbao comes in on the strength of a 1-0 win over Real Betis on Saturday. Inigo Martinez got the game’s only goal for the hosts in the seventh minute, and then the match ground out from there, with Athletic holding on for dear life to get the win. It was like getting that one goal was enough for Athletic, and after that the team went into a shell.
Inigo Martinez scored that goal seven minutes in, but after that Real Betis controlled most of the statistics. They outshot Athletic 8-6 (4-3 on target) and possessed for 55 percent of the game. Athletic did play the more physical game, committing 16 fouls and drawing four yellow cards. They also forced 11 corners. However, they did not turn those set pieces into quality scoring chances and looked at odds up front when it came time to send the ball to the net.
Why should you bet on Barcelona?
Falling into a tie with Real Madrid should wake up the Barcelona offense, particularly after settling for a scoreless draw at Sevilla. Both teams played a conservative game, waiting for the other to make the crucial mistake, but neither could break through. While Sevilla had to be happy with the point, it was a shame that neither team could get anything going from the logjam that formed on the field.
Barcelona possessed for 68 percent of the match and outshot the hosts 9-6, but only had three shots on net, even with Sevilla. Sevilla played the more physical game, getting 19 fouls to eight for Barcelona, and Sevilla was shown three of the match’s five yellow cards. Barcelona did force nine corners, but their set piece game was not productive either. Barcelona was unable to draw one of those trademark penalty kicks for Messi to convert, and they had no other way to get the ball into the net.
Barcelona vs Bilbao Final Score Prediction
Coming home does not mean as much for Barcelona with an empty Camp Nou waiting for them, but this team managed to pick up the offense again earlier in 2020 when they had briefly fallen behind Real Madrid, and I expect them to be able to do so once again. The fact that Athletic struggled to put up a single goal on one of La Liga’s bottom-feeders could spell trouble as they prepare to face one of the titans of the table. I see Barcelona getting looser on energy and pushing the match to Athletic, with a final score of Barcelona 2, Athletic 0.
