Three games against Athletic Club in 25 days

Games between Athletic Club and FC Barcelona have always been classic encounters, and January brings not one but three, all in the space of 25 days. The teams already met in a league clash at San Mamés on January 6, which Barça won 3-2, and following Sunday’s Spanish Super Cup Final, they’ll meet again at Camp Nou on January 31 for a league clash.

The reason for this curious circumstance is that the game on January 6 was originally scheduled to be the opening clash of the season, but was delayed as part of the rescheduling of fixtures due to the prolongation of the previous campaign as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In fact, there could even be a fourth meeting this month if the two teams win their Copa del Rey encounters with Ibiza and Cornellà and get drawn together in the following round.

Barça are looking to add another Super Cup title to that is already a record haul of 13.

This is the fourth time the teams have met each other for the trophy, but the first as single game at a neutral ground. When they have met on a home and away basis, Barça have been victorious twice (1983/84 and 2009/10) and Athletic once.