Team news
Barcelona
- Barcelona won't be able to count on Gerard Pique, Philippe Coutinho, Sergi Roberto and Ansu Fati due to injury.
- After missing the semi-finals, Sergino Dest and Leo Messi are in doubt for the match, although they trained with the rest of the group on Saturday.
Athletic Bilbao
- Unai Lopez and Peru Nolaskoain will definitely miss the match for Athletic Bilbao while Yuri Berchiche is in doubt. (h/t WhoScored)
Key stats
- The previous match between the two sides ended in a 3-2 away win for the Catalans.
- In the last five matches against the Basques, Barca have registered two wins, two losses and one draw.
- Blaugrana and Bilbao met in the Supercopa back in 2015, with Athletic winning 5-1 on aggregate (4-0, 1-1).
Probable line-ups
Barca XI: Ter Stegen; Dest, Araujo, Lenglet, Alba; Busquets, De Jong, Pedri; Dembele, Messi, Griezmann.
Bilbao XI: Simon; Capa, Nunez, Martinez, Balenziaga; De Marcos, Vencedor, D. Garcia, Muniain; Williams, R. Garcia. (h/t SportsMole)
Managers' quotes
Ronald Koeman (Barcelona): "A difficult game awaits us, against a rival who works hard and is very competitive. We have to try to play our game, but it depends on the contrary. The other day 'La Real' pressed well and it was difficult to get in the game. If Athletic is competitive it can complicate the game. They had their effectiveness against Madrid but Athletic deserved to go through because of many things."
Marcelino (Athletic Bilbao): "We're convinced we can defeat Barca and bring the Supercopa back to Bilbao. We will not vary our idea depending on whether Messi plays or not, but there is no doubt that if he plays, he will aggravate our chances of victory. We have to think that Leo is going to play and perform at his best level for us to stop him."
Predictions
SportsMole's Matt Law: Barcelona 2-1 Athletic Bilbao
"Barca will be the favourites to triumph on Sunday night, and we are expecting Koeman's side to lift the trophy. Messi's likely return will be a huge boost for the Catalan giants, and we are predicting a narrow win for Barca as tiredness could be an issue for Athletic due to the relatively fast turnaround."
WhoScored's Simon Harrison: Barcelona 2-2 Athletic Bilbao (regular time)
"Barcelona are currently on a nine-game unbeaten run across all competitions and will be given a boost by the return of Messi. The Blaugrana have only kept one clean sheet in their last three games, however, with Athletic finding the back of the net twice against them recently in a league clash.
"Athletic recorded their first win under new boss, Marcelino, last time out, battling to a 2-1 win over a strong Real Madrid outfit."
