For the La Liga giants Barcelona, the past few seasons have been plagued by financial difficulties. After Laporta's return to Barcelona, he set about addressing the club's financial crisis. Last season, Barcelona failed to win any titles, and Xavi was unable to continue his tenure. Flick took over the reins of the team, becoming the helmsman of the Blaugrana. At the start of this season, Barcelona's form was exceptionally hot, securing a stunning seven consecutive victories in La Liga, and sweeping Real Madrid and Bayern Munich with big wins in the first half of the season. For a time, Barcelona became the most eye-catching team in European football.
After Flick took office, he boldly promoted young players from the La Masia academy, such as Ilaix Moriba, Gavi, Pedri, Ferran Torres, Nico Gonzalez, and Eric Garcia, who began to make their mark in La Liga. At the same time, forwards like Memphis Depay and Antoine Griezmann were inspired to perform at their best, leading Barcelona to successive victories on all fronts. However, as time went on, injuries within the Barcelona squad began to mount, with several key stars sidelined due to injury, causing the team's performance to become inconsistent.
Before the winter break, Barcelona suffered three consecutive home defeats, having already lost five matches in La Liga this season against smaller teams like Real Sociedad, Las Palmas, Leganes, and Osasuna. In the most recent round of La Liga, Barcelona suffered a 1-2 home defeat to Atletico Madrid, with their poor form eroding the advantage they had built at the start of the season. Currently, Barcelona sits third in the La Liga table with 12 wins, 2 draws, and 5 losses, accumulating 38 points, trailing Real Madrid by 5 points and Atletico Madrid (who have played one fewer game) by 3 points, reversing their title-winning prospects.
At 3 a.m. Beijing time on January 9th, Barcelona will face this season's dark horse in La Liga, Athletic Bilbao, in the semi-finals of the Spanish Super Cup. Athletic Bilbao won the Spanish King's Cup last season and has been in scorching form this season, remaining unbeaten in 14 consecutive games before the winter break, topping the Europa League group with Lazio with an undefeated record of 5 wins and 1 draw. In La Liga, Athletic Bilbao has a record of 10 wins, 6 draws, and 3 losses, accumulating 36 points and ranking fourth, just two points behind Barcelona.
Looking at the offensive statistics and player form of the two teams, Barcelona scored a staggering 51 goals and conceded 22 in the first half of La Liga, scoring 21 and conceding 7 in the Champions League, totaling 72 goals across both competitions, making them the strongest attacking team in Europe's top five leagues. A total of 13 players have scored for the team, with Lewandowski scoring 25 goals in various competitions, making him the team's top scorer. In the La Liga scoring charts, Lewandowski and Memphis are ranked first and second, while Gavi and Memphis are ranked first and second in assists.
On the other hand, Athletic Bilbao scored 29 goals and conceded 17 in La Liga, scoring 11 and conceding only 2 in the Europa League, totaling 40 goals across both competitions. Although their attacking prowess is not as strong as Barcelona's, their defense is stronger. A total of 14 players have scored for the team, with Iñaki Williams scoring 8 goals and providing 5 assists in various competitions, making him Athletic Bilbao's top scorer.
In terms of injuries, Barcelona's Beller and Ter Stegen are still out due to serious injuries, and Olmo and Victor cannot play due to registration issues. Athletic Bilbao will be without Sancet, De Garraleta, and Alvarez due to injuries. Looking at the head-to-head record between the two teams, Barcelona has remained unbeaten in the last 10 encounters, winning 6 and drawing 4. In the first leg of La Liga this season, Barcelona defeated Athletic Bilbao 2-1 at home, with Gavi and Lewandowski each scoring a goal.
After the winter break and the first match of the new year, Barcelona swept lower-tier team Barbastro 4-0 away in the Spanish King's Cup, while Athletic Bilbao battled Logrones for 120 minutes, eventually narrowly advancing through a penalty shootout with a 4-3 victory, avoiding a major upset. For Barcelona, if they lose this Spanish Super Cup match, Flick's crisis will continue, especially after the Ousmane Dembele registration incident, which could lead to a collapse.