Probable Lineups
4-2-3-1
4-2-3-1
Probable Lineups Statistical Comparison
* Values in brackets (x) are overall player statistics in Primera Division.
Team News
Athletic Club
Rayo Vallecano
- After a week of strikes, Marcelo Bielsa will finally make his debut on the Athletic Bilbao bench. The team that doesn’t usually opt for foreign managers has made quite a noise this summer by signing the Argentinean boss.
- With a highly offensive style, Bielsa could start the season with a 4-2-3-1 formation with two wide men focusing on crossing balls to the head of international striker Fernando Llorente.
- Athletic received great news from UEFA this week as they were automatically qualified to the Europe League group stage following Fenerbahçe's ban from the Champions League and the promotion to EL of their initial qualifying opponents Trabzonspor.
- Rayo Vallecano will play their first La Liga match in eight years. After their promotion Madrid now have, for the first time, 4 teams on the big stage.
- After a season marked with an institutional crisis, Rayo arrives to First Division with more or less the same problems as before. One of the teams more involves in the strike, the team from Vallecas has a real financial issue as their players are still fighting to collect their wages.
- This institutional crisis has influenced Sandoval's chances of putting together a competitive squad, with the departures of main figures such as Coke, Trejo, Armenteros, and Amaya.