Athletic Bilbao host Sevilla at San Mamés on 22 August 2026 in what should be a tight, tactical La Liga encounter. Athletic are playing their first competitive fixture of the season after Matchday 1 was postponed, while Sevilla arrive in fourth having already banked three points from a 2-1 win at Rayo Vallecano. That gap in match rhythm makes this more interesting than a standard early season fixture and the absences on both sides only add to the unpredictability.
Edin Terzić and Luis García Plaza have never faced each other before, with Terzić arriving at Athletic on 5 May 2026 to replace Ernesto Valverde and García Plaza taking the Sevilla job on 24 March 2026 in place of Matías Almeyda.
Athletic's pre season ended on a flat note with a 0-1 friendly loss to Atalanta and while their high pressing, wide attacking approach has a discernible shape, the lack of competitive minutes raises real questions about sharpness. Sevilla look the sharper side after a controlled 2-1 win at Rayo on Matchday 1, with Jon Guridi and Peque both on the scoresheet in García Plaza's 4-2-3-1.
Athletic are without Dani Vivian, who has a hamstring and adductor injury and will miss the season opener. His absence leaves a gap in central defence that forces adjustments for a backline that would otherwise be building combinations from scratch. Unai Simón and Aymeric Laporte are both back in training, at least providing some stability and Nico Williams is expected to be the main attacking outlet, using his pace and dribbling to stretch Sevilla's defensive line. Sevilla are missing Alfon González through a thigh muscle tear, which weakens their flank options and means García Plaza will be leaning on Guridi and Peque to do more than they would ordinarily need to. Both players delivered against Rayo, so the reliance isn't baseless but it does make the visitors more predictable going forward.
Terzić's Athletic want to press high but without Vivian the central defensive partnership may struggle to play out calmly, slowing the build up and giving Sevilla more room to sit compact and wait. Nico Williams is the obvious match winner and how Sevilla's right sided defenders handle him will largely determine whether Bilbao carve out clear chances or whether the game stagnates in midfield. Laporte's return provides some stability in Vivian's absence, though the postponement means Athletic are approaching all of this without any competitive rhythm whatsoever. García Plaza's Sevilla are built around defensive structure, using the 4-2-3-1 to absorb and threaten from set pieces. Without González the width is gone and the burden falls on Peque's movement between the lines and Guridi's ability to disrupt Athletic's press in midfield. If those two can link up effectively, Sevilla may generate a few good moments, if not, it could be a long afternoon for the visitors in attack.
The combined effect of both squads being short handed is that neither side will be at full attacking capacity. Athletic lose a composed ball carrier in Vivian and may resort to more direct play, whereas Sevilla lose dynamism on the flank and become reliant on set pieces. This looks like a match decided by whether Guridi can disrupt Athletic's press before Nico Williams gets into open space, not by either side opening the other up.
These teams have met roughly 181 times with around 73 wins apiece, Sevilla winning the most recent encounter 2-1 in January 2026, a result fresh in both dressing rooms and a reminder that neither side has consistently dominated the other at San Mamés. With open play likely to be congested, set pieces could prove decisive and Sevilla arrive with drilled routines around the box that may create openings Athletic's reshuffled defence wasn't designed to deal with, while Athletic will look to use throw-ins and corners for additional pressure. The fact that Athletic are still to play a competitive minute while Sevilla have already won a game is a meaningful difference, though it probably shouldn't be overstated: travelling to San Mamés against a side hungry for their first points is no soft assignment and losing Vivian may push the hosts toward a conservative approach until the team finds its footing.
We're going with 0-0. Both teams are missing players who would ordinarily open the game up: Vivian from deep, González wide on the right. Athletic's press could force turnovers but Sevilla's compact shape and set piece threat should limit the clearest openings, while González's absence means Sevilla cannot run in behind the way they would against a high line, giving Athletic's returning defenders time to settle. The historical evenness of this fixture and Athletic's complete lack of competitive minutes both point the same direction: a goalless draw feels right.
Ryan Baldi
Football Writer
Ryan Baldi is a professional football writer with years of experience and has been featured by respected outlets such as the BBC, The Guardian, Sky Sports, DAZN, FourFourTwo, ESPN, Yahoo Sport and Football365. He has also written several books including Arsène Who?.
