Barcelona Thrash Athletic in Camp Nou Return 4-0

Barcelona couldn’t have scripted a better homecoming as they swept aside Athletic Club 4–0 in a sparkling performance at the Camp Nou. From the opening minutes, Hansi Flick’s side played with fluency, confidence, and an attacking sharpness that Athletic simply couldn’t live with.

It took just four minutes for Robert Lewandowski to open the scoring after a defensive lapse from the visitors gifted him possession inside the box. The Polish striker made no mistake, drilling a low finish into the corner despite Unai Simón getting a glove to it.

Barcelona continued to control the tempo and thought they had doubled their lead midway through the half, but Ferran Torres’ early run saw the goal ruled out for offside. Athletic responded with a brief spell of pressure, the best chance falling to Inaki Williams, who fired into the side netting.

Just when Athletic looked like they might steady themselves, Barcelona struck a crucial second with the last kick of the half. Lamine Yamal produced an outrageous outside-of-the-boot pass that carved the entire Athletic defence apart. Ferran raced through and slotted underneath Simón to make it 2–0.

Any hopes of a comeback disappeared almost immediately after halftime. Within three minutes, Fermin López pounced on a loose ball after a chaotic sequence inside the box and picked out the bottom-right corner to stretch the lead to 3–0.

Athletic’s frustration grew, and the match took another turn in Barcelona’s favour when Oihan Sancet was sent off in the 54th minute. His heavy challenge on Fermin was initially shown as a yellow, but a VAR review upgraded it to a straight red.

With the visitors down to ten, Barcelona kept pushing, and the fourth goal eventually arrived in the 90th minute. Yamal, once again sensational on the ball, danced past several defenders before threading a perfect pass through the heart of the back line. Ferran Torres met it with a calm finish into the bottom-right corner to seal his brace.

Yamal finished the match with two assists  both world-class moments while Barcelona generated an xG of 2.08 and looked in complete command from start to finish. Athletic rarely threatened, posting just 0.75 xG and struggling to cope with Barcelona’s pace and movement.

The victory lifts Barcelona to the top of LaLiga ahead of Real Madrid’s fixture, while Athletic drop to eighth. Next up for the Catalans is a Champions League showdown against Chelsea before returning home to face Alavés. Athletic travel to Slavia Prague in Europe before visiting Levante in league action.