24 matches of torment: Barcelona seek to maintain their dominance over Bilbao

Numbers and statistics ahead of the Camp Nou clash

Barcelona play their second La Liga match of the season this evening, Thursday, hosting Athletic Bilbao at the Camp Nou in the postponed fixture from the opening round.

They opened their campaign on the road last Sunday, thrashing Elche 5-0.

Opta have crunched the numbers ahead of the clash between Barcelona and Bilbao. Here they are:

- Barcelona have not lost in their last 13 La Liga meetings with Athletic Bilbao, winning 11 and drawing two, keeping a clean sheet in eight of those nine most recent games. Not since 2013 have they enjoyed a longer unbeaten run against the Basque side in the competition, a 14-match sequence of 10 wins and four draws.

- At home, Barcelona have gone 24 La Liga games unbeaten against Athletic Bilbao, 21 wins and three draws, winning the last seven. It is their longest home unbeaten run against the Basque side in the top flight. Their last home league defeat to them came in November 2001, a 1-2 reverse.

- Seven La Liga matches on a Thursday, seven Barcelona wins. That is their longest winning run on the day in the competition. Athletic Bilbao, meanwhile, have not lost in their last four top-flight games on a Thursday, winning three and drawing one, keeping a clean sheet in each of those victories.

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- Nineteen home wins on the bounce in La Liga. Barcelona have not been beaten at home since the 2-3 loss to Villarreal in May 2025, their longest run of consecutive home victories under the same manager in the competition since Rinus Michels oversaw a run of 21 between 1973 and 1974.

- Athletic Bilbao arrive out of form. They have not won any of their last five La Liga games, drawing one and losing four, and have taken points from just one of their last six away outings, a solitary win against five defeats, shipping at least two goals in every one of those trips.

- No side competing in La Liga over the past two seasons has kept more clean sheets in 2026 than Barcelona, with 10. Athletic Bilbao have kept the fewest, one, level with Villarreal. Barcelona posted a possession rate of 54.4% in their last league game against Elche, their second-lowest in the competition over the past three seasons, behind only the 49% they recorded against the same opponent in November 2025.

- Nico Williams has faced Barcelona more than any other La Liga side without contributing to a goal, eight matches, level with Real Betis. They are also the only opponent he has never beaten in the competition, one draw and seven defeats, alongside Granada, whom he has faced four times for three draws and a defeat.

- Among the clubs of Europe's five major leagues, Barcelona are the only side with more than one player who has scored 15 goals or more in all competitions during 2026: Raphinha on 16 and Lamine Yamal on 15.

- Athletic manager Edin Terzic lost his first match of the season 1-3 to Sevilla. Defeat here would make him the first coach to lose his opening two La Liga games since Ernesto Valverde in 2003-2004.