Barcelona 4-0 Athletic Bilbao: Flick's side run riot on Camp Nou return

Barcelona marked their first game in over two years at the Camp Nou with a resounding victory as they downed 10-man Athletic Bilbao 4-0 to move temporarily top of LaLiga. 

With Marcus Rashford missing through illness, his replacement Ferran Torres netted either side of half-time, with Lamine Yamal setting up both of his compatriot's goals.

Hansi Flick's team made the perfect start with just four minutes played when stand-in captain Robert Lewandowski squeezed a left-footed strike in at Unai Simon's near post. 

Torres then saw a goal ruled out for offside but got himself on the scoresheet in the third minute of first-half stoppage time after collecting Yamal's sensational outside-of-the-foot pass over the top before finding a way past Simon. 

The Blaugrana needed just three minutes after the restart to pull further clear, this time through Fermin Lopez, who picked out the bottom-right corner after the ball broke kindly to him inside the penalty area. 

Bilbao's task of an unlikely turnaround was made even more of an uphill struggle in the 54th minute when Oihan Sancet was brandished a straight red card for a poor tackle on Lopez as he aimed to break away in midfield. 

Barcelona could only make their advantage count on the stroke of full-time, though, when another exquisite pass in behind the Bilbao defence from Yamal sent Torres on his way, with the forward composing himself before coolly finishing into the net. 

Data Debrief: Torres and Yamal star for free-scoring Blaugrana

Barcelona fans had not seen their team play at the Camp Nou since a 3-0 victory over Mallorca on May 28, 2023, but their long wait was certainly rewarded on Saturday as their star-studded attack shone once again. 

Flick's team have now scored in each of their last 33 LaLiga matches, netting 85 goals in the process, representing their best scoring run in the competition since February 2019 under Ernesto Valverde (37 games, 99 goals). 

And they were worthy of their win here, generating an expected goals (xG) total of 2.08 from their 19 shots to Bilbao's 0.75 from their 13 attempts, with their dominance in the final third largely down to the finishing of Torres and the brilliance of Yamal. 

Indeed, among Spanish players across the top five European leagues in all competitions in 2025-26, no player has scored more goals than Torres' 22. Yamal, meanwhile, ended the match with team-high totals for chances created (three), passes in the final third (21), successful dribbles (eight) and shots (five).