Barcelona will look to strengthen their remarkable record against Athletic Club when they play their second La Liga match of the season at Camp Nou on Thursday evening. The fixture was postponed from the opening round of the campaign.
Hansi Flick’s side began their league title defence in emphatic fashion on Sunday, beating Elche 5-0 away from home. They now return to Barcelona hoping to extend a sequence of dominance that has made Athletic Club one of their most favourable opponents in the competition.
According to Opta, Barcelona have avoided defeat in their past 13 La Liga meetings with Athletic Club, winning 11 and drawing two. They have also kept clean sheets in eight of their past nine encounters. The Catalan club’s longest unbeaten run against Athletic Club in the competition was a 14-match sequence between 2013 and 2014, comprising 10 wins and four draws.
Their home record is even more striking. Barcelona are unbeaten in their past 24 home league matches against Athletic Club, with 21 victories and three draws, and have won each of the last seven. It is the club’s longest unbeaten home run against the Basque side in the history of Spain’s top flight. Athletic Club’s most recent league victory at Camp Nou came in November 2001, when they won 2-1.
Thursday has also traditionally been a productive day for Barcelona. They have won their last seven La Liga fixtures played on a Thursday, their longest winning run on that day in the competition. Athletic Club, meanwhile, are unbeaten in their past four top-flight matches played on Thursdays, winning three and drawing one. They kept clean sheets in all three of those victories.
Barcelona are also chasing a notable home milestone of their own. They have won their last 19 La Liga matches at Camp Nou, a run that began after a 3-2 defeat by Villarreal in May 2025. It is their longest sequence of consecutive home victories under one manager since the 21-match run achieved between 1973 and 1974 under Rinus Michels.
Athletic Club arrive in less encouraging form. They have not won any of their past five league matches, drawing once and losing four times. Away from home, they have taken points in only one of their last six La Liga games, recording one victory and five defeats. They have conceded at least twice in each of those six away fixtures.
Barcelona have recorded the most clean sheets in La Liga in 2026 among the teams to have competed in the division over the past two seasons, with 10. Athletic Club have the fewest, with one, level with Villarreal.
Barcelona had 54.4% possession in their latest league match against Elche, their second-lowest figure in a La Liga game over the past three seasons. Their lowest was 49%, also against Elche, in November 2025.
Athletic Club forward Nico Williams has faced Barcelona more often than any other La Liga team without contributing to a goal, appearing against them eight times without scoring or assisting. Barcelona are also the only opponent against whom he has never won in the competition, with one draw and seven defeats, alongside Granada, against whom he has one draw and three defeats in four matches.
Barcelona are the only club from Europe’s five major leagues to have more than one player score at least 15 goals in all competitions during 2026. Raphinha has 16, while Lamine Yamal has 15.
Athletic Club manager Edin Terzic lost his first league match of the season 3-1 against Sevilla. Defeat against Barcelona would make him the first manager to lose his opening two La Liga matches since Ernesto Valverde in the 2003-04 season.
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