Barcelona are in the lead again League at the table for at least 24 hours thanks to a 4-0 win over Athletic during their historic return to the Camp Nou Spotify on Saturday afternoon. The Catalans weren't at their best, but they still played well and were fearless in front of goal. These are crucial moments to seal a hard-fought victory against an Athletic team who fought well for an hour before being reduced to 10 men and Blaugrana returned home triumphantly in front of 45,000 fans who created a great atmosphere and were sent home very happy.
Reactions and Observations
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Fantastic pressing from Gerard Martin and Eric Garcia led to Barca's first goal at the new Camp Nou, and of course it was Robert Lewandowski.
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Athletic responded well to falling behind, their pressing was really effective, and Barca lacked the pressing resistance of Frenkie de Jong and Pedri. Eric can operate as a defensive midfielder, but he is not a natural player in that position and Dani Olmo didn't help him much in the first 25 minutes either.
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Unai Gomez is not a striker, but Ernesto Valverde started him as a false nine for some reason and it backfired on him as Unai missed a great chance that a real striker would probably score.
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Nico Williams heard it from the crowd and nearly silenced them in what was Athletic's best chance of the game, only to make a rather unfortunate miss himself.
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Lamin Yamal with BEAUTY trivela assist to Ferran Torres. And Spain number one Unai Simon probably had to save this player.
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Barca didn't deserve to have a two-goal lead at half-time, but they were simply more alert than Athletic when it mattered.
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Big early goal from Fermin Lopez to make it 3-0 thanks to another brilliant press from Eric Garcia.
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Oyhan Sunset received the most obvious red card ever after a VAR check. It's strange that the referee only gave him a yellow card. No attempts to play the ball at all. He simply kicked Fermin in desperation. A stupid and well-deserved sending off that ended the competition forever.
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There was a period of 5-10 minutes during which Yamal created chance after chance for his teammates, which they were unable to convert. Definitely should have made more than one assist.
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I loved seeing Dro Fernandez play over 30 minutes when the game was over. Bringing in young players in situations like this is a great way to give them minutes without pressure to continue to develop.
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After a somewhat shaky start, Eric played his central role very well and received a well-deserved ovation as he was replaced by Marc Bernal with 15 minutes remaining. Candidate for the title of best player of the match.
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With 10 minutes left it was time for Raphinha to receive a standing ovation as the Brazilian returned from injury. It didn't take him long to fire a shot at goal from the edge of the area that went wide.
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Ferran gets his second goal of the match, but Lamine's solo run past a million defenders and a stunning assist is the real story. The first highlight of the new Camp Nou belongs to a teenager who will give us many more in the coming years.
