Barcelona vs Athletic Bilbao preview - Rafinha: 'Luxury' among team-mates

Posted Friday, September 12, 2014 by PA

Attacking midfielder Rafinha insists it is a "luxury" to be surrounded by so many world-class team-mates at Barcelona as he bids to hold on to his starting place for the visit of Athletic Bilbao to the Nou Camp.

The Brazil-born 21-year-old has started in the wins over Elche and Villarreal which have taken the Catalan giants to the top of the early Primera Division standings and has so far repaid the faith of coach Luis Enrique, who has previously worked with Rafinha in the Barca B team and at Celta Vigo last season.

Rafinha, now back in Barcelona after representing Brazil's Under-21s, told the club's official website: "I see the competition as a great way to learn and it's a luxury to have these team-mates to learn from."

On the impact of Enrique, Rafinha added: "Having spent a year with him and knowing how he works has been a real help for me. The rest of the players are gradually assimilating his ideas. He knows me well."

Saturday's opponents Athletic opened their campaign with a defeat at Malaga but bounced back with a 3-0 home win over Levante at the San Mames on August 30.

"We know that they are a very strong side, who press a lot and never give a ball up for lost," Rafinha added.

Jeremy Mathieu trained normally but has not yet been cleared to face Athletic as he fights to recover from an ankle injury. Barca B youngsters Munir and Sandro also took part in Thursday's session with the first team.

Athletic coach Ernesto Valverde told Marca he is hopeful that Guillermo Fernandez will be fit to feature despite struggling with lower back pain earlier this week, while the same newspaper reported that Ander Iturraspe, Iker Muniain, Mikel San Jose, Unai Lopez and Aymeric Laporte all returned unscathed from international duty.