How will Barça line up against Athletic?

Barcelona look to win the first trophy of the Hansi Flick Era as the Blaugrana travel to Saudi Arabia for the 2025 Spanish Super Cup, with the semi-final taking place on Wednesday against Ernesto Valverde’s Athletic Bilbao. The Catalans made a strong start to the new year with a dominant win over Barbastro in their Copa del Rey debut, but the step-up in competition is gigantic as Barça face a red-hot Athletic side that hasn’t lost a game since October and always gives the Blaugrana a monster test, especially in Cup ties. Here’s how we think Flick will line up his troops for Wednesday’s battle.

Defense Photo by Pedro Salado/Getty Images Flick would certainly love to win his first trophy just six months into his tenure and will have zero hesitations about picking his strongest possible side for this one, especially with the extra day of rest compared to the winner of Thursday’s semi-final between Real Madrid and Mallorca. There is a question about who starts in goal after Wojciech Szczesny ’s strong showing on his debut at the weekend, and it all depends on how Flick treats his goalkeeper rotation when it comes to Cup matches. His La Liga and Champions League starter is Iñaki Peña, but we think Szczesny will be given the nod in all Cup games, including the Super Cup.

As for the back four, despite Ronald Araujo’s excellent season debut, we think Flick will stick with his usual starting backline of Jules Kounde , Pau Cubarsí , Iñigo Martínez and Alejandro Balde . Araujo will certainly compete for a spot in the next few weeks, but he’s probably not ready to start twice in four days having just come back from injury. Midfield Photo by Pedro Salado/Getty Images Marc Casadó was fully rested at the weekend which shows just how much Flick relies on the young defensive midfielder when it comes to the big games, and there’s zero doubt Casadó will start alongside Pedri in the double pivot on Wednesday.

As for the number 10 position, thanks to the ongoing Dani Olmo debacle, we think he’ll choose Gavi over Fermín López in this one due to Gavi’s intensity and ability to press. There’s still a chance both Gavi and Fermín start if another player isn’t quite ready to go up front, but we think Fermín will be counted as a super sub in this one. Attack Photo by Pedro Salado/Getty Images Lamine Yamal has made a quick recovery from the ankle injury he suffered a few weeks ago and is very likely to start according to all reports, but there’s also a chance he starts on the bench if Flick decides to be extra cautious.

But we think the coach will choose to start his best front three, with Raphinha returning to the side after being rested at the weekend and Robert Lewandowski looking to follow his two-goal performance against Barbastro with another decisive showing in this one. Possible XI : Szczesny; Kounde, Cubarsí, Iñigo, Balde; Casadó, Pedri; Yamal, Gavi, Raphinha; Lewandowski (4-2-3-1) How do you think Barcelona should line up against Athletic? Let us know your thoughts, predictions and teams in the comments below!.