After Messi, Barcelona Must Be Able To Win Through A Collective Game At Home To Athletic Bilbao

JAKARTA - Barcelona will face Athletic Bilbao on Saturday 21 August, at the San Mames Barria Stadium, Bilbao, in their first away game since Lionel Messi's departure. Ronald Koeman's side are hoping to get their first point away from home.

In the first match, Ronald Koeman's side beat Real Sociedad 4-2 last weekend, even though Messi was without Messi who chose to go to Paris Saint-Germain.

Apart from being without Messi, the Catalan giants are also playing without the injured winger Ousmane Dembele and without Sergio Aguero, who just arrived from Manchester City on a free earlier this season.

But Martin Braithwaite's consistent performances, who scored twice, made Barca a dangerous team in La Liga. Moreover, the new striker, Memphis Depay, also impressed on his debut after joining from Lyon.

Koeman admitted after last week's win over Sociedad that other players in his team needed to step up without the shadow of Messi, who scored 38 goals in his final season at Barca.

Koeman last season led Barca to beat Athletic Bilbao 4-0 in the Copa del Rey final in which Messi scored twice. It was his first trophy as Barca boss.

"We no longer have a player who can decide the fate of the game with his solo actions. Now it will be a collective effort for us to win every game," said the Dutchman.

But the instability at Camp Nou is still visible. Moreover, doubt is also rampant off the pitch, after Barca president, Joan Laporta, on Monday 6 August, said that their financial problems were in a "worrying" condition. He revealed that Barcelona's debt reached 1.35 billion euros (about Rp 22.7 trillion).

Philippe Coutinho, one of the players who earn a lot of money, and was not the main choice of the squad for the match against Sociedad, is now also rumored to be leaving the club and returning to the Premier League with Liverpool.

Veteran centre-back Gerard Pique, who scored last weekend, could miss out with a calf injury against Athletic.

This creates a new problem for Barca, because it is a separate pressure to continue to hunt for victory in order to secure early points in La Liga this season.

Koeman's hope, now rests on the shoulders of Depay, who, together with Antoine Griezmann, has to shoulder a lot of responsibilities up front for Barcelona.

Depay himself is not an easy player to adapt to a new club. He had to leave Manchester United in 2016 after scoring just two goals in 33 Premier League games.

He also had to struggle to adapt to Lyon in the 2017 season. But the Dutch striker was finally able to enjoy a good time at Lyon, scoring 20 goals in Ligue 1 last season.