Hansi Flick believes returning to Camp Nou will give Barcelona a major boost as they prepare for their homecoming at the iconic stadium against Athletic Bilbao.

Barca have played the majority of their home games since the start of 2023-24 at the Olympic Stadium in Montjuic, with the club spending €1.5b to modernise Camp Nou.

The Blaugrana's return to the ground has been delayed on several occasions, even causing them to play matches at the Estadi Johan Cruyff – home of their B team – earlier this season. 

Camp Nou will have a limited capacity of 45,000 for Saturday's game against Athletic, who are seventh in LaLiga with 17 points from 12 matches.

The Blaugrana are second, having cut Real Madrid's lead at the summit to three points ahead of the international break.

"We are all delighted to return to Camp Nou, real a football stadium," Flick told reporters. "It's a good opportunity to measure where we are.

"We prefer to play at the Camp Nou. When we did the training and went up the stairs, I had an incredible feeling.

"We like it a lot. The fans are close and can give us a push during the match, although in Montjuic they also did it. I'm happy to have a good connection with the fans."

Athletic boss Ernesto Valverde, who coached Barca between 2017 and 2020, winning two league titles and the Copa del Rey once, believes Flick's side have not dropped their level since capturing the crown last season.

 "I see them much like last year, at a great level. It's true that as time goes by, teams know how to play against them, it's natural," Valverde said. 

"But they have a lot of quality to prevent the opponent from progressing, they always push you into your own half. They want to play the game in your area and that makes them dangerous because of the quality they have up front."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Barcelona – Robert Lewandowski 

Lewandowski has scored 76 goals in LaLiga in 112 matches. 

Since his debut in the competition in 2022-23, only Erling Haaland (99 in the Premier League) has scored more goals in a single league competition among players from Europe's top five divisions.

Athletic Bilbao – Nico Williams

Williams, who could make his 100th LaLiga start (currently on 99), scored Athletic's winning goal in their last LaLiga match against Real Oviedo.

However, he has only faced Real Betis (eight) more times in LaLiga without being involved in a goal than Barcelona (seven).

MATCH PREDICTION – BARCELONA WIN

Barcelona have not lost any of their last 11 matches against Athletic in LaLiga (W9 D2), keeping a clean sheet in six of the last seven.

At home, the Blaugrana have not lost any of their last 23 LaLiga matches against Athletic (W20 D3), winning the last six, their longest unbeaten run at home against them in the top flight – their last home defeat to them in LaLiga was in November 2001 (2-1).

Athletic have not won any of their last four away games in LaLiga (D1 L3), failing to score in three of them, though they have not gone five or more games without an away win in the competition since January 2023 (D3 L4).

The Blaugrana have scored 32 goals in La Liga this season. Only Bayern Munich, with 35 goals in the Bundesliga, have scored more than the Blaugrana in Europe's top five leagues this campaign. 

Meanwhile, Flick's side have hit the woodwork more times than any other team in Europe's top five leagues (12 – three more than Napoli in Serie A).

They are clear favourites for victory on their Camp Nou homecoming, having won each of their five home matches in LaLiga this season. They have not started a campaign with six straight wins at home since 2019-20, when they won their first seven.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Barcelona – 64.3% 

Athletic Bilbao – 17%

Draw – 18.7%