Barcelona Beat Athletic Club 2-0 as Rodri Makes Long-Awaited Debut

Barcelona made it two wins from two at the start of their La Liga title defence, beating Athletic Club 2-0 at Camp Nou in their first home match of the season, with goals from Raphinha and Fermin Lopez either side of a much-anticipated debut off the bench for new signing Rodri.

Barcelona dominated for long spells but were repeatedly denied by a superb performance from Athletic goalkeeper Unai Simon, who made a string of important saves to keep the visitors in the contest. The breakthrough eventually came in the 37th minute, with Pedri splitting Athletic's defence with an outrageous through-ball to send Raphinha clear, and the Brazilian rounded Simon to finish confidently for his third goal in Barcelona's opening two league matches of the season.

Chances continued to fall Barcelona's way after the break, with Lamine Yamal hitting the crossbar and Fermin twice denied by Simon, before the hosts finally wrapped up the win eight minutes from time. New signing Karim Adeyemi supplied a low cross from the left that caused chaos in the Athletic box, with Fermin pouncing to smash home the second and settle the contest. The result stretched Barcelona's home winning streak in La Liga to 20 matches, their longest such run since a 25-game streak between November 2012 and January 2014.

The night's headline moment, however, arrived in the 63rd minute, when Rodri was introduced from the bench to make his long-awaited Barcelona debut following his move from Manchester City. The World Cup winner slotted into a deep-lying midfield role, showing neat distribution and a calming defensive presence that added stability as Barcelona saw out the win. With two wins from two and maximum points to open the campaign, Hansi Flick's side head into Monday's clash with Rayo Vallecano in ominous early-season form, with Rodri potentially in line for his first start.