November 22, (THEWILL) — Barcelona returned to Camp Nou after more than two years away with a dominant 4-0 triumph over 10-man Athletic Bilbao, sending them temporarily to the summit of LaLiga. Ferran Torres, brought into the side due to Marcus Rashford’s illness, struck twice whilst Lamine Yamal provided two assists in a clinical display under Hansi Flick.
The hosts needed only four minutes to take the lead when stand-in captain Robert Lewandowski fired a left-footed effort past Unai Simon at the near post. Torres had a goal disallowed for offside before breaking the deadlock again in the third minute of added time at the end of the first half, converting after Yamal’s brilliant outside-of-the-foot pass.
Fermin Lopez extended the advantage three minutes after the interval, finding the bottom-right corner after the ball fell to him inside the box. Bilbao’s hopes of a comeback were extinguished when Oihan Sancet received a straight red card in the 54th minute for a poor challenge on Lopez in midfield.
Torres completed his double in the dying moments after another precise through ball from Yamal split the Bilbao defence. The Spain international kept his composure to slot home and cap a comfortable evening for the Blaugrana.
The victory marked a fitting return to their home stadium for Barcelona, who showed their attacking quality throughout. Flick’s side capitalised on their numerical superiority to record a convincing win that lifted them temporarily above their rivals in the table.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
