What is expected to be Europe’s largest football stadium reopened on Saturday at roughly half capacity with 45, 000 fans present.
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The indebted club anticipates that Camp Nou will increase revenues after it had been closed for more than two years as a major overhaul.
In the fourth minute, Robert Lewandowski capitalized on an error in Athletic’s defense to set the tone. When Alex Berenger attempted to play the ball out of the back, Unai Simon’s low effort was slashed past the Polish striker who mishandled it.
Barcelona relentlessly exerted control over an underperforming Athletic side throughout. Six of Ernesto Valverde’s team’s last nine league games have been lost, and they have only managed three victories so far this month.
Athletic, who sits eighth with 17 points, never threatened to host them.
In stoppage time in the first half, Barcelona once more struck. Torres was found by Lamine Yamal’s skillfully delivered long ball into space, and the Spanish forward quickly and skillfully tapped the ball past Simon.
Barcelona punished another Athletic defensive error by three minutes into the second half. The visitors gave possession to the alert Fermin Lopez, who fired a bullet into the net as the visitors attempted to play it out from the back.
Oihan Sancet was shown a straight red card in the 53rd minute for a careless challenge on Lopez, which added to Athletic’s frustrations.
Torres added his second in the closing stages, drawing in Yamal, who added a third sublime assist, to complete another counterattack.
Before Madrid travels to Elche on Sunday, the win brought Barcelona’s lead to a point with Real Madrid at the top.
The key is returning to Camp Nou, Lewandowski said, “We played well from the beginning and gained three more points.” There is another game to be played here. We are a little bit stronger when we play at Camp Nou, in my opinion.
Despite the chilly weather, Barcelona’s fans pumped up the club song before kickoff.
They were even more happy than they were. In May of 2023, they last had the opportunity to watch a game at Camp Nou. The municipally owned 55, 000-seat Olympic Stadium, which was situated atop a hill overlooking Barcelona’s city that was more difficult to reach, hosted the team for the following 900 plus days.
The 36-year-old fan Carlos Narváez told The Associated Press, “It has been two years at the]Olympic Stadium], and it wasn’t easy, the atmosphere wasn’t the same, and it wasn’t Camp Nou.
“This is like going home,” he says. The players will likely feel that way, just like our supporters do. Everyone seems to be getting excited, can you tell?
Despite the welcome homecoming, there is still work to be done before the brand-new Camp Nou is finished and ready to welcome 105, 000 fans.
Large construction cranes loom over the stadium and are visible from the stands, and there are areas that appear to be construction sites. The top tier of Camp Nou is mostly composed of metal and concrete beams and pillars.
In order to repair, modernize, and expand a venue that had formerly had a capacity of 99, 000, construction work began in June 2023. To carry out the remodelling project, the club secured 1.45 billion euros (then $1.6 billion) from a number of investors.
Barcelona had originally intended to return to Camp Nou to play games in November 2024 to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the organization. The club has not yet disclosed when it anticipates finishing the stadium work, which has been repeatedly postponed. As the work gets closer, the club said it intends to ask the city for permission to expand its seating options.
Source: Aljazeera
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