Copa del rey

Athletic Club Bilbao: The first 'weekend' of the new La Liga season is a very long weekend indeed as the first round of matches kicks off on Thursday night, with the last games played on Monday. The coming days should give us the first chance to see Kylian Mbappe wearing a Real Madrid shirt in a competitive game in Spain, while it will be fascinating to see how Hansi Flick starts his time as Barcelona coach and while new Atletico Madrid signing Alexander Sorloth and Julian Alvarez travel to play in Villarreal -- which is familiar ground for the former of those two.

Athletic Club Bilbao and Getafe have the honour of getting the ball rolling on Thursday evening, with the home side buoyed by Nico Williams' decision to stay for another season, reports Xinhua.

The Basque side who finished fifth last season, and won the Copa Del Rey, haven't had a great pre-season and will hope not to miss Spain goal-keeper Unai Simon, who is out for three months after a wrist operation, while understudy Julen Agirrezabala is a doubt with a back problem, meaning third choice Alex Padilla is likely to make his league debut.