Barcelona coasted past Athletic Club 4–0 to celebrate their return to Camp Nou in the best way possible.
In the first match at the Les Corts avenue soccer cathedral, Hansi Flick’s side looked energized from the starting whistle and Robert Lewandowski, who wore the captain’s armband from the start for the first time in his Barcelona career, became the first goalscorer at the renovated Camp Nou.
Ferran Torres bagged a brace and Fermín López added another strike against a weak Athletic Club to put an exclamation point on the historic afternoon. Raphinha also returned from injury as Barcelona pulled level with Real Madrid atop La Liga with Los Blancos yet to play this weekend.
The emphatic performance should have Barcelona confident ahead of their trip to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Barcelona Player Ratings vs. Athletic Club (4-2-3-1)
GK: Joan García—7.7: A quiet return to action for García, who answered the call whenever needed. His ability to play as a sweeper enhanced Barça’s high-line, a quality Wojciech Szczęsny couldn’t offer the side over the past month.
RB: Jules Koundé—7.6: Koundé stifled Nico Williams and had a number of almost telepathic connections with Yamal down the right flank.
CB: Pau Cubarsí—7.6: A mature, confident and poised showing from the teenager. Was rock-solid in his preferred role of right center back.
CB: Gerard Martín—7.4: The young defender looked like a veteran in his first career start at center back. Wasn’t caught out of position at any stage and dealt with any danger that came his way accordingly. One of the standouts of the game.
LB: Alejandro Balde—7.0: Was a real menace down the left wing and influential in Barça’s attempts to play out of the back. A fitness issue saw his afternoon end at halftime.
DM: Eric García—6.9: With García operating as the deepest midfielder, Barcelona didn’t miss Frenkie de Jong’s presence at all. Another consistent, high-level showing from the versatile Spaniard.
CM: Dani Olmo—7.3: Regularly misplaced passes and committed dangerous turnovers. Struggled to make an impact playing in a deeper role, constantly making poor-decisions that stifled attacks, but completed some of the more basic elements to drag his rating up statistically.
AM: Fermín López—8.2: Yet another strong performance from the Spaniard, whose tireless energy ignited Barça’s attack. Was at the heart of most of his side’s dangerous surges into the final third.
RW: Lamine Yamal—9.1: Barça’s No.10 was at his electrifying best. Completed eight dribbles, bagged a sensational assist and terrorized Athletic’s defense all game.
LW: Ferran Torres—9.1: Was a menacing presence throughout and deserved his brace. Link-up play was also sharper than usual, especially when combining with Lewandowski and Yamal.
ST: Robert Lewandowski—8.1: A vintage performance from Barça’s captain on the day. Looked energized, sprightly and at peak fitness, commanding the press and serving as an outlet in attack. Constantly itching to shoot, he scored the first goal at the new Camp Nou.
Subs not used: Diego Kochen (GK), Wojciech Szczęsny(GK), Roony Bardghji, Andreas Christensen.
Athletic Club (4-2-3-1):
Starting XI: Unai Simón; Andoni Gorosabel, Daniel Vivian, Aymeric Laporte, Yuri Berchiche; Iñigo Ruiz de Galarreta, Mikel Jauregizar; Álex Berenguer, Oihan Sancet, Nico Williams; Unai Gómez.
Subs used: Alejandro Rego, Gorka Guruzeta, Robert Navarro, Adama Boiro, Mikel Vesga.
Player of the Match: Ferran Torres
Barcelona 4–0 Athletic Club—How It Unfolded at Camp Nou
Flick gambled and started La Masia youngster Gerard Martín at center back for the first time in his career. His presence in the heart of defense allowed the manager to push Eric García up to midfield to handle the absences of Pedri and Frenkie de Jong.
Barcelona looked shot out of a cannon in the opening exchanges, pressing with intensity and moving the ball around at blistering pace. Robert Lewandowski translated the strong start to the game’s opener, getting away from his man nicely and firing a powerful weak-foot low shot Unai Simón couldn’t handle.
The hosts kept the pressure on and Ferran Torres thought he had doubled the lead after rounding Simón, however the goal was promptly disallowed for offside. Then, inside the final five minutes of the half, Álex Berenger sent in a menacing low cross that Nico Williams fired just wide of the post.
Right before the break, Lamine Yamal played a stunning trivela pass from the right to a charging Torres down the other flank. The Spaniard continued his run and unleashed a shot that, similar to the opener, Simón got a hand to but couldn’t stop.
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Barça’s onslaught resumed after the break. A brilliant one-two saw García play Fermín through on goal. The La Masía playmaker fired a violent strike to score Barça’s third inside five minutes of the second half.
Athletic’s nightmare worsened just five minutes later. Frustrations got the better of Oihan Sancet and he aggressively slammed Fermín with a hotheaded kick, leaving referee José María Sánchez no choice but to show him a red card after a VAR review.
Barça relaxed into cruise control and put the game to sleep with long, sustained periods of possessions. In the dying minutes, another wonderful action by Yamal set Torres through on goal to complete his brace, adding the cherry on top of a Barça cake.
Barcelona vs. Athletic Club Halftime Stats
Barcelona vs. Athletic Club Full Time Stats
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Barcelona Player Ratings vs. Athletic Club: Camp Nou Return Turns Out to Be Special.
