After a frustrating performance against Racing Santander last Sunday, Barcelona take on Athletic Bilbao tonight (19.00 CEST) in the first league game at the Camp Nou in the 2007-08 season.

Barcelona will take the midweek victory against Internazionale in the Gamper Trophy as a slight confidence booster going in to the game, but will still have memories of the disappointing result against Racing in the back of their minds and will no doubt want to make up for it tonight.


Camp Nou a fortress for Barcelona

Last season Barcelona took a whopping 47 points out of a possible 57 points from the 19 games played at the Camp Nou. The team did not lose a single game, and proves just how hard it is for teams to break down the Catalan side on their home ground. More importantly, Barcelona have an impressive record against the Basque side at the Camp Nou, scoring an average of exactly 3 goals per game over the past 10 seasons, and conceding only 8 goals in total. The most emphatic victory was during the 2000-01 season when Barcelona thrashed Athletic 7-0.


Athletic's recent history

Athletic are the only team other than Barcelona and Real Madrid never to have been relegated from the top flight in Spain. The club ardently stick to their policy of playing only Basque players, however they flirted with relegation during the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons, guaranteeing survival on the 37th and 38th matchdays respectively. They sold long-serving striker Urzaíz to Ajax during the summer, a player who was the team's second top scorer last season. Players such as Aritz Aduriz, Andoni Iraola and Fran Yeste will be relied on to score the goals to propel the club further up the table than the last 2 seasons. Full-back Asier Del Horno was also brought back on a loan after his brief spells in Chelsea and Valencia, but the player will not feature in tonight's game.


Eto'o out injured

Eto'o picked up a hamstring injury against Internazionale and will be out of action for at least 8 weeks. It is a big loss for Barcelona, but hopefully the blow will be softened by the presence of Thierry Henry. The frenchman signed for Barcelona during the summer transfer window as strong cover for Ronaldinho, Eto'o or Messi, and the plan will be put straight into action tonight. Club captain Carles Puyol, and midfielder Eidur Gudjohnsen and Edmílson also miss out due to injury, and young striker Bojan Krkic is with the U-17 Spain squad for a tournament in Korea.