Barcelona 4 Athletic Club 0 - Barcelona Boss Bilbao in Boisterous Camp Nou Return

 

Image - FC Barcelona Twitter

November 22, 2025. A day when Culers in Barcelona got a chance to take the covers off the seats at the (still ongoing BTW) refurbished Camp Nou while the others from all over the world got to watch on in what I can assume was a mixture of admiration, euphoria, and a bit of envy. At least that's what I felt from all the way here in Kenya.

This was a historic day for this team for a few reasons, some of which might actually sound bonkers.

This game was only Lamine Yamal's second appearance at the Camp Nou. Yes, you heard that right - for all his brilliant moments, Lamine Yamal actually only became a regular starter after Barcelona had moved to Montjuic.

Another snack of a fun fact - This was Hansi Flick's first game at the Camp Nou. Yep! Flick arrived the season after Barcelona had moved away from Camp Nou to Montjuic and thus had never set foot inside Camp Nou as a manager.

But wait, the fun facts keep getting 'funner'!

On this day, in 1877, Hans Max Gamper-Haessig, or Joan Gamper as he was known by his Spanish identity, took his first breath in the city of Winterhur, Switzerland. He would go on to found the greatest club in the world at just 22 in 1899.

Furthermore, today saw 9 players born in Catalonia play for Barcelona, something never seen since 1937.

But the good news doesn't stop there!

Barcelona also welcomed back keeper extraordinaire, Joan Garcia, into the starting line-up, while everyone's favorite spirit animal, Raphinha, started on the bench but came on later in the game to raucous applause from a buzzing legion of Culers who had awaited his return as Christians await the return of Jesus Christ.

In short, this was a day that Barcelona could not mess up - and they didn't.

Honestly, I am still buzzing that we get to see Barca under the sparkling lights of Camp Nou once again, and that alone is bigger than the football. But speaking about the football -

Barca players turned up under a 45,000-strong home crowd with their tails up and adrenaline pumping through their veins like pure, unadulterated 'illegal substances'. Within a minute of kick-off, they had already caused a commotion in the Bilbao box.

It didn't take long for Barcelona to open the floodgates, with Robert Lewandowski opening the scoring in the new Camp Nou to mark the start of a new era for Barcelona at their sparkling 'new' home ground.

I won't lie, I wasn't able to catch much of the first half, and even as I type this, I still haven't watched the replay. Still, I managed to catch the game toward the end of the first half, tuning in just in time to see Lamine Yamal swing his trademark trivela pass across the field for a rushing Ferran Torres to bring it down beautifully and slot it past Unai Simon, whom you could say should have done better to stop the shot.

It felt good, this game. You could feel the crowd's fever palpitate throughout the game as the fans made their palpable joy of being back in their usual haunts known, and the players responded in kind with some good football. Nothing spectacular, really, but it was a mature, professional performance.

And it makes sense why this wasn't the edge-of-your-seat riveting cascade of free-flowing football. Eric Garcia, a center back, was playing as the DM, where he was competent; Gerrard Martin, everyone's favorite player (including this writer's) to hate on until he plays well, was playing at CB from right back, and putting in a proper shift. This was a team that you couldn't pick even by accident with your eyes closed. It was a mishmash of players playing in unusual positions for them, a keeper returning from a rather long injury layoff, and missing the key architects of its cascading football, De Jong and Pedri.

Yet to turn up and put four past Bilbao was nothing short of outstanding, in front of a crowd desperately praying, nay hoping, actually double nay, expecting, wonderful memories on their return to Camp Nou. That takes balls and belief, and Barcelona had that in plenty.

Honestly, this isn't even a game to be analyzed but felt. On an evening that had several good things happening for Barcelona, winning this game was only the icing on an otherwise spectacular cake. Lamine Yamal tugged at our heartstrings with some of his insane dribbling. Garcia made us feel secure with his ball handling. Eric Garcia made me feel at ease knowing that he would handle whatever task he was given. Gerrard Martin made me feel ashamed that I ever doubted him. Really, pick any Barcelona player and you will have a (positive, I presume) emotion to attach to how they made you feel.

Bilbao did not just sit back and let a vibrant Barcelona walk all over them. They posed some threats, especially in that first half, forcing Joan Garcia into a few saves, but really, did not amount to much, especially after the Oihan Sancet red card after a brutal kick at Fermin Lopez. Nothing could take this moment away from Barcelona. 

On a day marking the birth of the club's distinguished founder, on a day marking a soul-stirring return to a modernized Camp Nou that really is 'a new camp' if you dip it, on a day when Barcelona welcomed back two of their most important players in Joan Garcia and Raphinha, they responded to the moment with four goals past Bilbao.

Fermin Lopez scored Barca's third early in the second half (Eric Garcia was right on the edge of Bilbao to lay on the assist BTW) to take the game beyond Bilbao's flailing limbs, and the peerless Yamal took out three Bilbao players to set up Torres with a Messi-esque through ball for the fourth goal in the 90th minute.

Barcelona put on a professional showing on a heart-warming return to the Camp Nou, urged on by a sentimental crowd and the iridescent new seats around them sparkling red, blue, and yellow. On a day when Barcelona put four past Bilbao, to me, it would feel amiss to say anything other than this moment really belongs to Camp Nou, a parent who opened their arms wide and embraced all Culers in a warm, saccharine hug, reminding them of what it feels like to feel at home, loved, and all buttered up and mellow.

Okay, so this article was all mushy and overly sentimental, but you know what, I don't care. Camp Nou awaits! That's something worth getting a little carried away by, I would wager. Even Flick agrees.