Bilbao's two holding midfielders are sitting deep in front of the visitors' back four in these early stages.

Alejandro Balde goes on a marauding run before feeding Lewandowski, but the Polish striker mistimes his run and the linesman's flag goes up.

Pedri has started the match wide on the left, with Gavi operating through the middle.

Barcelona are looking to gain an early stranglehold on possession.

Robert Lewandowski and Frenkie de Jong get the action under way at Camp Nou.

Here come the two teams. Kick-off is just a few moments away...

Barcelona's El Clasico defeat came four days after a 3-3 draw at home to Inter Milan, which left them on the brink of a second successive group stage exit in the Champions League.

Manager Xavi was pleased with the way his players responded to those setbacks against Villarreal but expects another tough test against Valverde's team this evening.

“Athletic will be tactically different,” he said. “They have good centre-backs, they defend well and are strong in the air.

“Against Villarreal we took the right risks, took players on. This is looking more like the team I want. Perfection is impossible, but we want to get as close as we can.”

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Erneste Valverde was relieved of his duties by Barcelona in January 2020, despite guiding the club to back-to-back La Liga titles in 2018 and 2019. Tonight, the 58-year-old returns to Camp Nou for the first time since his departure nearly three years ago.

“Even when they play poorly, they still create six clear scoring chances, so we’re expecting a difficult game,” said Valverde, who is in his third spell in charge of the Basque outfit. “There is no revenge [for sacking me], we just want to get three points.”

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Barca have kept clean sheets in each of their past five home league games, their best sequence since they kept 12 consecutive shutouts between April and December 2011 - while Pep Guardiola was still in charge.

However, Bilbao's 19 La Liga goals in 2022-23 is their highest tally after ten games since 1982-83. They went on to win the title that year.

Barcelona are unbeaten in their previous 20 home La Liga games against Athletic Club, winning 17 and drawing three.

The Basque club’s last victory on this ground came under former Bayern Munich boss Jupp Heynckes in November 2001, when they edged to a 2-1 win.

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Xavi makes four changes to the side that swept past Villarreal.

Eric Garcia, Alejandro Balde, Ousmane Dembele and Gavi come in, with Jordi Alba, Marcos Alonso, Ferran Torres and Ansu Fati dropping to the bench.

Barcelona XI: ter Stegen, Roberto, Kounde, Garcia, Balde, De Jong, Busquets, Pedri, Dembele, Lewandowski, Gavi

Subs: Bellerin, Pique, Ansu Fati, Torres, Alonso, Alba, Kessie, Raphinha, Inaki Pena, Pablo Torre, Arnau Tenas

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Athletic Bilbao also make four changes to the team that drew with Getafe in their last league game.

Yeray Alvarez, Alex Remiro, Yuri Berchiche and Oier Zarraga replace Dani Vivian, Inigo Lekue, Iker Muniain and Oihan Sancet.

Athletic Bilbao XI: Simon, De Marcos, Alvarez, Martinez, Berchiche, Zarraga, Vesga, N Williams, Herrera, Alex Berenguer, I Williams

Subs: Agirrezabala, Morcillo, Vivian, Sancet, Muniain, Guruzeta, Dani Garcia, Lekue, Vencedor, Raul Garcia, Balenziaga, Paredes

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Real Madrid moved six points clear at the top of La Liga with victory over Sevilla on Saturday evening.

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Now it’s over to Barcelona, who bounced back from last Saturday’s El Clasico defeat with a comfortable home win over Villarreal in midweek.

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Can the Blaugrana keep the pressure on their great rivals with another three points against Athletic Bilbao tonight? Let’s take a look at the teams...