Athletic Bilbao and Barca scrap in Spanish Super Cup

Having emerged as victors in the UEFA Super Cup, after a breathtaking battle with Sevilla, Barcelona are back on Iberian soil to contest the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup against Athletic Bilbao.

The Basque Country club last took this trophy way back in 1984, so are outsiders at 11/2 with Coral to win over 90 minutes here, unless they can take advantage of Barca’s recent exhaustive excursions.

A draw on home turf at 16/5 may be more realistic, as the hosts forced the Catalan’s to split the spoils in three of their last seven tussles at the San Mames across all competitions. Yet, taking anything less than a victory to the Nou Camp for the return could prove costly.

Luis Enrique’s outfit did show deficiencies in defence able to be exploited last time out, but also managed to smash five goals past Sevilla, with three coming in a thrilling first half thumping.

So Barcelona are expectedly odds-on at 4/9 to triumph on their travels here, with their electric attackers 21/5 to rack up four or more after hitting 10 past their hosts in the past three encounters.

Lionel Messi bagged a brilliant brace last time these two met in the Copa del Rey final, and also struck a deadly double in the UEFA Super Cup, so back the inspirational Argentine at 3/1 to score two or more again.