Barcelona vs. Athletic Bilbao Live Stream: Watch Online Spanish Copa del Rey Quarterfinal Matches Streaming 3:00 PM ET

Jan 20, 2016 02:50 PM EST
Neymar
Barcelona star Neymar prepares for a match in 2015."

The first time Athletic Bilbao and Barcelona met up, Athletic was dominated 6-0. Things were ugly and now the two teams prepare to meet again for the second time in four days as they prepare to face off in Spanish Copa del Ray play. While Barcelona might have a lot of confidence entering this match, they will be without two of their top players as both Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez will be sitting out.

According to ESPNFC.com, both Messi and Suarez will sit out the match against Athletic Bilbao leaving Neymar as the lone piece of the attacking trio. Messi opted to take himself out of the game determining that his fitness was not good enough after missing time for a strained hamstring. Barcelona has stressed that the injury is nothing to worry about, but keeping the star out for one game is the best move to make right now.

Suarez is missing the game because his suspension was upheld regarding a tunnel incident in the match against Espanyol. Barcelona was hopeful that they would get the star back on the field, but CAS announced that he must sit the match and wait to return. Having both Messi and Suarez out will make a 6-0 route hard to repeat. As the team goes into a hostile environment, the pressure will be on Neymar to step up. Athletic has beaten Barcelona once this season and can do it again.

"We've analyzed the game and there's no guarantee that the same thing is going to happen," manager Luis Enrique said, via ESPN.com. The sending-off certainly altered the way we're going to look at the game. There are still positive and negative things that we could take away from our analysis.''

Barcelona have only played five matches where both Messi and Suarez have not been on the field. They have won four of those, but this will not be as easy considering Athletic can easily improve following the blowout loss. Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal will be relied on heavily. Since their arrival to the team, Barcelona has been given some flexibility with the rotation up top. Neymar will now play a more central position and lead the team's scoring attack. Confidence is high the Brazilian can lead without his scoring counterparts. 

Watch Barcelona vs. Athletic Bilbao live stream, click here.

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