Betting tips for Barcelona vs Ath Bilbao - 18.03.2018

The Nou Camp hosts one of the great classics of the Santander League, which faces the Catalans with Athletic Club de Bilbao. FC Barcelona secured the title by defeating Atlético de Madrid (1-0) two days ago. The Barcelona team has 72 points in 28 matches of the Santander League, 8 more than the Ath Bilbao  table, which is second.

Ernesto Valverde is having a brilliant first season at the helm of the Blaugrana team that after being swept by Real Madrid in the Supercopa of Spain, was able to recover on the basis of the checkbook, signing for more than 300 million the promising Ousmane Dembélé and the Brazilian Philippe Coutinho , that arrived next to the Colombian central Yerry Mina in the past winter market.

Only Espanyol, apart from Real Madrid, has been able to subdue a team much stronger than in previous seasons, top scorer in the Santander League with 64 goals, and the second least-scored team in the championship (11 goals, by 9 of Atlético de Madrid).

In this Champions League, the Catalan team had no problems to finish first in Group D ahead of Juventus, Sporting CP and Olympiacos, adding 4 wins and two draws. Chelsea have been their victims in the round of 16 and will face quarters with AS Roma.

Lionel Messi, with 24 goals in 27 games, and Luís Suárez, with 22 in 25 games, are the top scorers of the Santander League. The charrúa is low by sanction, while Busquets is low by injury.


Barcelona from Vizcaya misses Ernesto Valverde, with whom he finished last season occupying the 7th position in the Santander League. The victory of  Barcelona in the final of the Copa del Rey ended up getting into the Europa League this season, having had an outstanding participation last year. The Basque team, one of the three Spanish clubs to have never lost the category (the others are two are Real Madrid and FC Barcelona) has a budget of 171.7 million euros for this campaign. The march of Ernesto Valverde to FC Barcelona prompted the promotion of Ziganda from the branch team, with the change in the bench being the main novelty, together with the return of several of the players who acted on loan last season (Herrerín, Kike Sola, Iriondo, Ager Aketxe, Vesga ...).

The elimination to Formentera of the Second Division B did a lot of damage to the Lions, who after eliminating Spartak Moscow in the 1/16 finals of the Europa League, were eliminated last Thursday against Olympique Marseille.

Barcelona vs Ath Bilbao Prediction: 1/1 1.50

Barcelona vs Ath Bilbao   Betting Tip: Over  3.5 Goals @ 1.80

Barcelona vs Ath Bilbao Score Recommendations: 3-1 10.00