Topics: La Liga, Athletic Club, Barcelona, Lionel Messi, Arturo Vidal, Arthur
Lionel Messi's absence from the team facing Athletic was expected, but there are a couple more snubs that will raise a few eyebrows.

Barcelona will be facing their first clash of the season without Lionel Messi, and if that was not enough reason to have fans worrying about their fate against Athletic, Messi's absence will not be the only one for Los Blaugranas during the first clash of the 2019-20 La Liga campaign.

Coach Ernesto Valverde decided to leave out of the team some of their finest midfielders, in order to make way for their recent signings, such as Frenkie De Jong or Junior Firpo. Nevertheless, the absences of midfielders Arthur and Arturo Vidal may give the Spanish boss a selection headache ahead of the first match of the season.

This will be the first time in ten years in which Lionel Messi will not play Barcelona's opening match of the season. His last absence from such a game took place in the 2009-10 season, when Los culés defeated Sporting Gijón with a 3-0 score.