A revitalized Barcelona gets to defend its title straight out of the gate, playing the first match of the 2019-20 season traveling to Basque Country. Athletic Bilbao vs. Barcelona, on Friday night, brings Spain’s top-flight league back into the club soccer mix. While Champions League is on their minds to be sure, Messi’s gang will also want to take care of business in the league and try to secure another title, and they’ve got the reinforcements to make deep runs into tournaments while working through the 38-match La Liga grind.
Here’s everything you need to know to live stream Athletic Bilbao vs. Barcelona, including what to watch for on the pitch.
Barcelona vs. Athletic Bilbao
- When: 3pm ET, Friday, Aug. 16
- Where: San Mamés in Bilbao, Spain
- Streaming: BeIN Sports
Barcelona vs. Athletic Bilbao live stream
The match is on BeIN Sports; the following services provide a one-week trial and therefore an easy way to watch La Liga matches for free.
1) Sling TV
- Sling TV pricing: $25-$40 per month (40% off first month)
- Sling TV devices: Amazon Fire Stick and Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Xbox One, Google Chromecast, Oculus Go, Microsoft Edge, and iOS and Android devices
- Sling TV local channels: NBC, Fox (check your local availability here)
Sling TV provides two base channel package options, each priced at $25 per month. Sling Orange includes three ESPN channels, while Sling Blue includes sports channels like NBCSN (where many Premier League matches appear), NFL Network, FS1 and FS2, and local channels. (Sling Blue customers in select markets get NBC, where some matches appear; see if yours has it here.) If you’re Team “Why Not Both,” Sling Orange + Blue combines the two for just $40 per month. To add beIN SPORTS and maximize your soccer-watching potential, you’ll want to add either Sports Extra: Sling Orange ($5 per month) or Sports Extra: Sling Blue ($10 per month). (The latter also includes NFL RedZone.)
Spanish-speaking viewers have quite a few options. For bilingual families, you might consider the Español: Best of Spanish TV package for either Sling Orange or Sling Blue for 24/7 specialty channel LaLiga TV and beIN SPORTS Connect: Channels 4-9, which features matches from La Liga, Ligue 1 and Copa del Rey, among others. Both packages cost $5 per month after your free trial. Sling TV Latino is another Spanish-language package for $10 per month, including NBC Universo, History en Español, and—of import to soccer fans—four beIN SPORTS channels. (And choosing Sling TV Latino + Sling Orange for $30 per month gives you access to ESPN Deportes.) For more information, check out our guide to Sling TV channels and our Sling TV review.
2) FuboTV
- Cost: $44.99 for your first month and $54.99 per month thereafter (after a 7-day free trial)
- FuboTV devices: Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Android TV, iOS and Android devices
- Local channels: ABC, Fox, NBC, CBS, the CW (in some markets) (check local availability here)
FuboTV is a solid TV streaming service option, whether your tastes run to entertainment (AMC, Syfy, FX), news (MSNBC, CNN), or sports (NBA TV, NFL Network). If you’re a soccer fan, however, it will appear tailor-made for you, with 10 beIN SPORTS channels, NBC and NBCSN, FS1, FS2, UniMás, and Champions League actions via TNT all on tap. If you can’t watch a match live, FuboTV offers a three-day replay for each match and 30 hours of cloud DVR. (Check out the complete FuboTV channels list.)
FuboTV also has bilingual families in mind; each subscription comes with UniMás, Galavisión, NBC Universo, beIN SPORTS, Univision, and Fox Deportes. An extra $7.99 per month will bring you Latino Plus, which includes CNN en Español and TyC Sports among its offerings.
3) PlayStation Vue
- Cost: $44.99-$79.99 per month (after a 7-day free trial)
- PlayStation Vue devices: PlayStation 3 and 4, Roku, Amazon Fire Stick and Fire TV, Google Chromecast, Kodi, iOS and Android devices
- PlayStation Vue local channels: NBC, Fox, ABC, CBS (enter your ZIP code here to check your availability)
PlayStation Vue is a fantastic option for soccer fans who already own a PlayStation console, but this streaming platform is available on a variety of devices. ESPN, ESPN2, FS1, and FS2, which will get you a lot of soccer action, are part of the Core package of channels that offer soccer and other sports programming, and the options increase at the Elite and Ultra levels. The Español package includes BeIN en Español and a direct route to La Liga matches.
Barcelona vs. Athletic Bilbao: What to watch for
Remember how good Barcelona was last season? It’s even better now, with Antoine Griezmann and Frenkie de Jong coming over from Atletico Madrid and Ajax respectively, with very little lost going out. (Fans may have not even realized that Malcom made an exit to Zenit in the summer.) The biggest controversies involving Barca in the early going won’t involve the current lineup; they’ll involve whether or not they should bring Neymar back from PSG, and if the new checkerboard jerseys are a thumbs-up or thumbs-down. (Two thumbs way up from this writer.)
Athletic Bilbao famously fields an all-Basque team; forward Inaki Williams, who had 12 goals to lead the team last season, just committed to the team with a nine-year contract.
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