Raphinha scores again as Barcelona ease past Athletic Club in La Liga

Published On 27 Aug 202627 Aug 2026.

Key points

• Raphinha and Fermin ‌Lopez scored as Barcelona beat Athletic Bilbao 2-0 at the Camp Nou in ⁠their first home match ⁠of the LaLiga season.
• Barcelona began strongly and ‌Simon produced a fine one-handed save in the 18th minute to deny Lamine Yamal's curling effort from the edge of the box.
• Athletic came close to equalising in the 75th minute when Oihan Sancet struck ‌the post from outside the box.
• Barcelona have six points from two matches, level with Real Madrid, Betis and Sevilla at the top of LaLiga.
• Barcelona took the lead when Pedri put Raphinha in a great position to round Simon and tap into an empty net.

Raphinha opened the scoring in the 37th minute on Thursday, rounding goalkeeper Unai Simon after Pedri's through ball split the Athletic defence, before Fermin sealed the win ⁠in the 82nd when he pounced on Aymeric Laporte's defensive howler from Karim Adeyemi's low cross and finished from inside the box.

Although Athletic goalkeeper Simon kept the visitors in contention with a number of notable saves, hansi Flick's side controlled most of the game and created the better ⁠chances.

Flick created three changes from the team that began the campaign with a 5-0 win at Elche, handing Anthony Gordon his full debut and bringing in Pau Cubarsi and Pedri. New signing Rodri began on the bench.

Raphinha went close six minutes afterwards, heading against the post from a cross by academy left back Xavi Espart. Pedri then had a goal ruled out in the 29th minute for offside in the build-up.

Raphinha, again applied as a centre ⁠forward, has scored three goals in Barcelona's first two league matches while ⁠the club continue to look for a specialist striker before the transfer window closes.

Simon prevented a second before halftime, making a sharp close-range save from Lamine. Athletic players appealed for a red card after a challenge by the Barcelona forward on ⁠Laporte, but the referee and VAR took no further action.

Barcelona remained on top after the break and Lamine hit the crossbar with a powerful strike ⁠from the edge of the area in the 53rd minute.

Rodri, ⁠who joined Barcelona from Manchester City after winning the World Cup with Spain in North America, came off the bench in the 62nd minute to create his debut for the club.

Barcelona sealed the win in the 82nd minute after Laporte created a mess of his effort to clear Karim Adeyemi's low cross, allowing Fermin to control the loose ‌ball ‌and score past Simon.

Barcelona have six points from two matches, level with Real Madrid, Betis and Sevilla at the top of LaLiga. Athletic and Real Sociedad remain without a point.

For now, raphinha scores again as Barcelona ease past Athletic Club in La Liga remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.