Athletic Bilbao vs. Barcelona preview

CAIRO – 28 October 2017:FC Barcelona confirmed that Andres Iniesta and Javier Mascherano will be out from the Athletic Bilbao match in the tenth round of the Spanish League (La Liga) at San Mames Stadium on Saturday.

Iniesta will be absent due to a thigh injury, and the Argentinean defender will watch the match from outside the stadium due to an illness.

Also, there will be another five players out of the squad due to injury: Thomas Vermaelen, Arda Turan, Aleix Vidal, Ousmane Dembele and Rafinha Alcantara.
Ernesto Valverde, Barcelona`s coach, will be back to San Mames, but this time with Barcelona. Valverde was the head coach of Athletic Bilbao for four years, as he managed the Basque team in 213 games from 2013 to 2017.

This weekend he returns to San Mames, where he will be greeted by a host of familiar faces for the first time as an opposition manager.

Barcelona is on the top of the table with 25 points after nine rounds, while Bilbao is 11th in the table with 11 points.