Barcelona, Aug 28 (IANS) Defending champions FC Barcelona maintained their perfect start to the La Liga 2026/27 season with a 2-0 home win over Athletic Bilbao at Camp Nou on Thursday night.
Goals from Raphinha in the 37th minute and Fermin Lopez in the 82nd gave Hansi Flick’s side a comfortable victory against a rival that failed to register a shot on target.
Lamine Yamal looked more threatening than on Sunday night and tested Athletic goalkeeper Unai Simon after 15 minutes. Despite Barcelona dominating possession, the Catalan club needed a moment of quality from Pedri to thread Raphinha through on goal, allowing the Brazilian to finish in style, reports Xinhua.
Simon made several excellent saves in the second half but could do nothing in the 82nd minute, when an error by Spain international Aymeric Laporte allowed Lopez to double Barcelona’s lead with his third goal of the campaign.
In Thursday’s earlier kickoff, Celta Vigo looked to be cruising when Iago Aspas gave them an early lead at home to Osasuna.
Celta dominated possession before the break, but everything changed at the start of the second half when defender Marcos Alonso was sent off after a VAR check for a dangerous challenge.
Kike Barja took advantage of some weak defending to level the score three minutes later, before Ante Budimir gave Osasuna the lead from the penalty spot following a handball in the Celta area.
Kylian Mbappe scored a hat-trick on Wednesday night as Real Madrid won 4-1 at home to Real Sociedad, with Jude Bellingham setting up Vinicius Jr. for Real Madrid’s other goal.
Barcelona’s win came a few hours after they confirmed the arrival of Croatian international goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic on a four-year deal from Fenerbahce.
It’s still not certain whether the 31-year-old, who arrived in the city on Tuesday, will be part of the Barcelona first-team squad this season or go out on loan, with Dinamo Zagreb a possible destination.
The club sees Livakovic as a long-term replacement for 36-year-old Pole Wojciech Szczesny.
Barcelona also confirmed on Thursday that 19-year-old full-back Xavi Espart’s performances in pre-season have earned him a place in the first-team squad for this season.
–IANS
bsk/
