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Finally, as had been proclaimed to the four winds, Nico Williams He will play at Montjuïc. And also with the number 10 shirt…but he will do so with the Athletic shirt that Iker Muniain left him. and facing a Barcelona that will play its first home game at 7 p.m. (DAZN) in a duel that It oozes morbidity from all sides and has a name of its own: Nico Williams (watch the match live on As.com).
The Athletic winger has been the subject of strong harassment by Barcelona, which was more of a publicity campaign and a smoke bomb than anything else, as evidenced by the fact that the participation of Dani Olmo, Barcelona’s star signing this summer, is in serious doubt for the match because he is still waiting to be registered.
And that, despite the fact that Barcelona had assured that “both of them: Dani and Nico” would come. Well, it seems that only one of them will be able to play today. This siege on Nico has greatly upset Athletic. Example: there will be no board meal between the two clubs before the match. The justification is given by the Semana Grande in Bilbao and the agenda of the Biscayan club. But the truth is that the Athletic board did not feel like sitting down to eat with the Barcelona fans after the summer they have been given. Relations between the two clubs have been seriously strained this summer.
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If you look away from Nico Williams and focus on the game as a whole, the match has substance. Barça arrive after having passed the test at Mestalla and Athletic after drawing at home against Getafe. The home side must confirm their feelings, already without Gündogan and most likely with Pedri in the starting eleven and recovering Fermín, while the visitors must correct a bad start to the championship and a disastrous record as visitors to Barça. Athletic have gone 23 years without beating the Catalans on their home turf.
Beyond introducing Pedri in the starting line-up, Barcelona will look a lot like the team that played in Valencia on the first matchday. The casualty could be Ferran Torres so that Raphinha can play on the left.
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At Athletic, the absences in defence are affecting Valverde’s line-up, and at least Agirrezabala could be back in the starting line-up in the absence of Unai Simón, who underwent wrist surgery. Djaló and Galarreta will remain out, but De Marcos could return. But make no mistake, everyone will be looking at Nico Williams.
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