One of the toughest matches of any season for Barcelona has arrived: the Blaugrana travel to the Basque Country tonight for a meeting with Athletic Bilbao, and this definitely will not be an easy game for the La Liga leaders.

Athletic have always been a tough team to beat at home, but over the last few years they’ve become a powerhouse thanks to one man: current Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde, who had a lot of success with Bilbao and made them one of the top teams in the league.

Now Valverde is with the Blaugrana, of course, but Athletic remain a strong, tough team that plays with passion and are very well supported by their amazing home crowd, and there’s no way they’ll make things easy for Valverde and his men tonight.

But Barça have Lionel Messi, and it’s safe to stay their chances of winning are always good when Messi is playing. Leo has scored some amazing goals in Bilbao over the years, and he’s no doubt looking forward to having another great performance at the San Mamés.

This promises to be a very entertaining match, and you really cannot miss it. It’ll be super, super, super fun. Oh, and Messi is playing. You’re watching it, right?

MATCH INFO

Date/Time: Saturday, October 28, 2017, 8:45pm local time, 7:45pm (UK & Nigeria), 2:45pm ET, 11:45am PT (USA), 12:15am IST (India, Sunday)

Venue: San Mamés, Bilbao, Basque Country

HOW TO WATCH, STREAM LA LIGA

Television: beIN SPORTS (USA & Canada), Sky Sports Football (UK), SuperSport 7 (Nigeria), SONY TEN 2 (India)

Online streaming: beIN SPORTS CONNECT (USA & Canada), Sky GO (UK), FuboTV (7-day free trial, click here to sign up)

LINEUPS

Barcelona starting XI:

Ter Stegen; Roberto, Piqué, Umtiti, Alba; Paulinho, Rakitic, Busquets, Gomes; Messi, Suárez

Athletic Bilbao starting XI:

Kepa; Bóveda, Unai, Laporte, Lekue; San José, Iturraspe; Williams, Raúl García, Córdoba; Adruiz