BARCELONA: Raphinha and Fermin Lopez scored as Barcelona beat Athletic Bilbao 2-0 at Camp Nou in their first home match for their La Liga rivals this season.
Raphinha opened the scoring in the 37th minute when he managed to beat goalkeeper Unai Simon after receiving a pass from Pedri that split the Athletic defense.
Fermin then confirmed the victory in the 82nd minute after taking advantage of a defensive error by Aymeric Laporte when trying to clear Karim Adeyemi’s low pass, before finishing the opportunity from inside the penalty box.
Hansi Flick’s side dominated most of the match and created the better chances, but Simon ensured Athletic kept up the pressure with a number of crucial saves.
Flick made three changes from the team that started the campaign with a 5-0 win at Elche, with Anthony Gordon making his first start, while Pau Cubarsi and Pedri also came on.
New player, Rodri, started the match on the bench.
Barcelona started brightly when Simon made a one-handed save in the 18th minute to deny Lamine Yamal’s curling shot from outside the penalty area.
Raphinha almost scored six minutes later, but his header from academy product Xavi Espart’s cross hit the post.
Pedri, on the other hand, saw his goal in the 29th minute disallowed due to an offside position in the move that led to the goal.
Barcelona finally broke the deadlock when Pedri put Raphinha in the best position to pass Simon before pushing the ball into an empty net.
Raphinha, once again deployed as a centre-forward, has already scored three goals in the first two LaLiga games of the season as Barcelona continue their search for a prolific striker before the transfer window closes.
Simon then prevented Barcelona from adding to their tally before the break with a quick save from close range against Lamine’s attempt.
Athletic players also demanded a red card after Lamine’s foul on Laporte, but the referee and VAR took no further action.
Barcelona continued to dominate the game after the break and Lamine again hit the crossbar with a swift effort from outside the penalty area in the 53rd minute.
Rodri, who joined Barcelona from Manchester City after winning the World Cup with Spain in North America, came on as a 62nd-minute substitute to make his debut for the club.
Athletic almost equalized in the 75th minute when Oihan Sancet’s shot from outside the penalty area hit the post.
Barcelona finally completed the victory in the 82nd minute after Laporte failed to clear Adeyemi’s low pass, allowing Fermin to control the loose ball before finishing it past Simon.
Barcelona now have six points from two games, level with Real Madrid, Real Betis and Sevilla at the top of LaLiga.
Athletic and Real Sociedad have yet to collect any points.