Rival watch: Key Athletic Club star could be rested vs Barcelona amidst ongoing pubalgia woes | OneFootball

Barcelona’s first game after the international break will be against Athletic Club – one that could be the club’s first game in the renovated Spotify Camp Nou if everything goes according to plans.

Having just cut the deficit with Real Madrid to three points with their win over Celta Vigo, the Catalans will look to keep the momentum going and put pressure on Los Blancos by extending their winning run.

After all, they will have the likes of Joan Garcia and Raphinha back from injury and will look to go out all guns blazing against a difficult opponent.

Rival watch

As relayed by MARCA, Athletic Club star and former Barcelona target Nico Williams may not feature on the night in what comes as a big blow to Ernesto Valverde’s dynamics.

The player is suffering from pubalgia, the same condition as Lamine Yamal, and is in need of his minutes to be meticulously managed.

Nico Williams a doubt for Barça vs Athletic Club. (Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images)

Nico featured in the Basque side’s last game before the hiatus and even scored against Real Oviedo.

While he is technically fit, Ernesto Valverde is considering handing the player a full rest for the clash against Barcelona so that he can be in better shape for the game against Slavia Prague three days later in the UEFA Champions League.

The European clash, after all, is virtually a must-win for the Basque side given that they face PSG, Atalanta and Sporting CP in the future rounds.

Given that the player is fit and out of national team duty this window, he will have two more weeks to train and recover to his best shape. His availability against Barcelona, thus, is not ruled out but dependent on how the manager chooses to prioritise games

So far this season, the Spaniard has played eight La Liga games for Athletic Club and has just two goals and one assist to his name. He averages 1.5 shots and 1.1 key passes per game.