Supercup Spain, Semi-final, 08/01/2025 at 8:00 p.m.
Barcelona lost their way at the end of the year and want to get back on track in 2025. The comfortable lead in the table is gone; instead, they are only third after only one win in the last five games.
In the second game of 2025, they travel to Saudi Arabia for the Super Cup, while the Catalans face the Basques in the semi-finals. In my Athletic Bilbao Barcelona betting tip, I expect a tough fight on neutral ground, so I’m going for both teams to score from LeoVegas.
It’s not the turn of the year Barcelona wanted, first various injuries towards the end of 2024, Hansi Flick’s red card and the points misery, and now the mega club from Spain is not being given permission to play for Dani Olmo.
This means that the Spanish international, who came from RB Leipzig, will probably leave on a free transfer. At least in sporting terms, 2025 has started well for FC Barcelona.
Barca comfortably mastered the obligatory task in the Copa del Rey against Union Deportiva Barbastro with a 4-0 win, and is now through to the knockout stage.
The next competition is the Supercup, where the semi-finals and final have been held in Saudi Arabia for several years.
And the opponent is not exactly pleasant. Bilbao is hoping for a victory against the ailing former team of Lionel Messi.
But despite the weak results at the end of the year, Athletic remains the underdog at odds of 3.90, while Barcelona is at odds of 1.77. The odds come from Bet365, a tax-free betting provider.
What’s more, an amazing package is waiting for you there with the code “VIPANGEBOT”. The draw has the same odds as Bilbao’s win, the “double chance 1X” in favor of the Basques is 1.92, I don’t think that’s a bad option.
Finally, there is unrest at Barcelona after the slump and the Olmo drama. Bilbao, meanwhile, are having a strong season, are now unbeaten in 15 games and are just behind Barca in fourth place in the league table.
However, the start to the year was rocky. It took a penalty shoot-out to beat Logrones in the Copa del Rey. The side’s prolific attack failed to score in 120 minutes, but that was with their second-string players on the pitch.
I definitely don’t expect another 0-0 draw on Wednesday. Barcelona in particular play very offensively, but are also always vulnerable to counterattacks.
The best example is the 1-2 against Atletico Madrid, with many fast combinations Barca kept getting into the danger zone, didn’t reward themselves and conceded the 1-2 in the last few seconds of a counterattack.
However, Flick’s team also had a tough time against deep-lying teams like Las Palmas (1:2) and Leganes (0:1), two home games against supposedly small La Liga clubs that went badly.
Therefore, despite the squad superiority and the usually strong performances of Barcelona, I am not impressed by the home win rate. If I had to decide, I would actually prefer to take the “double chance 1X” at a better price.
My final choice is ultimately the goal of both teams. I expect Barcelona to have more of the ball and to score with their still-strong offense, while Bilbao will launch dangerous counterattacks.
Before the goalless draw at the start of the year, Bilbao had scored in eleven consecutive matches across all competitions. The 0-0 draw against Mallorca was the only one in 21 matches in which the Williams brothers’ team did not score.
And in the cup game a few days ago, Bilbao fielded a B-team, so I would definitely exclude the result from this streak.
Bilbao is one of the strongest offenses in the Spanish league, as all the statistics show. At the same time, Barcelona is only in the middle of the pack when it comes to goals allowed, and the same goes for the number of goals they concede.
Incidentally, the Winamax community also thinks highly of the bet that both teams will score. At the moment I am writing my preview for you, there is a total majority of 100 percent in favor of the “Yes” selection in the market for whether both teams will score.
Conclusion: The first real test for Barcelona and Bilbao comes in 2025 on Wednesday. I see Barcelona slightly ahead, but ultimately not as clearly as the bookmakers, which is why there are no good odds for me in the 1X2 market.
Barcelona have not survived the last six matches without conceding in 2024, while Athletic are also unbeaten in 15 games and scoring goals with confidence. We are talking about 20 matches with Bilbao scoring a goal in the last 21 matches in 2024.
I expect an exciting duel on Wednesday evening. Due to Barca’s scoring crisis and the uproar surrounding Olmo, I expect Bilbao to be able to keep up for long periods. By the way, LeoVegas also allows deposits via Paypal.
My Athletic Bilbao Barcelona betting tip: Both Teams to Score.
