Barcelona vs. Athletic Bilbao 2015 live stream: Start time, TV schedule and how to watch online

Between their near-collapse in the UEFA Super Cup and Neymar’s illness, it was never going to be shocking to see Barcelona fail to defeat Athletic Bilbao in the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup. It was, however, very surprising to see them get so thoroughly taken apart. Athletic won 4-0, and deservedly so, setting up a second leg where Barcelona will need to have their foot on the gas from kickoff.

A four-goal lead certainly isn’t insurmountable for the Blaugrana, though the lack of an away goal certainly hurts. Luis Enrique noted on Sunday that his team scored four or more goals 18 times last season, but they had Neymar fit for most of those games. They were also usually playing teams that are inferior to Athletic.

But there is a trophy at stake here, and Barca have Lionel Messi among their ranks. He might not fire the Blaugrana to an incredible Supercopa comeback victory, but he’ll probably be involved in a couple of goals and make Athletic sweat the result all night.

In most seasons, the Supercopa de España is a glorified friendly competition, but Barcelona really wanted to win it. President Jose Maria Bartomeu has been talking about a six trophy season since he got re-elected, and he probably didn’t anticipate having that dream ended before April or May. To preserve that dream, Barca need to grab a 4-0 win or better.

The easiest answer is that it’s the middle of August, Lionel Messi played Copa America, and they’re still getting their chemistry right. Neymar’s absence doesn’t help either. But Marc-Andre ter Stegen hasn’t been good over his first two games, and it’ll have Luis Enrique thinking about going back to Claudio Bravo. Dani Alves doesn’t look like he was worth a contract extension. Andres Iniesta is seriously showing his age in midfield, as well. And really, only a culmination of all of these things plus some bad luck could lead to a 4-0 loss.

Ultimately, Barcelona are still the best team in the world, but their first two games have been a reminder that they’re not infallible.

Barcelona injuries and suspensions

Out: Arda Turan (ineligible), Aleix Vidal (ineligible), Neymar (illness), Jordi Alba (hamstring), Alex Song (ankle)

Out: Iker Muniain (knee), Jonas Ramalho (knee)

Match date/time: Monday, 4 p.m. ET, 10 p.m. local

Venue: Camp Nou, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

TV: ESPN2 (U.S. - English), ESPN Deportes (U.S. - Spanish), Sky Sports 4 (U.K.), TV3 (Spain)

Online: Watch ESPN (U.S.) , Sky Go (U.K.), Movistar (Spain)

Listings for more countries can be found at LiveSoccerTV.

SB Nation presents: Barcelona will miss Neymar, one of the world’s best