Barcelona 4-0 Athletic Club: summary: score, goals, highlights, LaLiga 2022-23

FCB-Athletic: match report

Ousmane Dembele scored and provided assists for Sergi Roberto, Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres as Barcelona cruised past Athletic Bilbao 4-0 in LaLiga on Sunday.

Barcelona remain second in the standings on 28 points, three behind leaders Real Madrid and five clear of third-placed Atletico Madrid.

The hosts scored three times in 10 minutes in the first half, starting with Dembele's towering header from close range in the 12th minute.

The French forward then put Roberto through with some brilliant one touch build-up play in the 18th minute, with the Spanish full back's strike bouncing in off a defender past a helpless Unai Simon.

Four minutes later, Dembele ran down the right channel before crossing to Lewandowski who swivelled and finished with a powerful shot.

Barca took their foot off the gas after the break but there was still time for Dembele to deliver another assist less than 20 minutes before the end, playing the ball in from the left touchline for Torres to score from close range.

FT at Camp Nou. Barcelona to strong and run out 4-0 winners.

We've reached the 90 minute mark and we'll have three minutes of added time.

Athletic almost bag a consolation and on two occasions, Barcelona clear the ball off the line as Vesga is carded for a pull on Kessie.

Sergi Roberto stretchered off the pitch and it looks like the home side will have to play with ten men for the final minutes of the contest. 

Sergi Roberto seems to have developed a problem with his shoulder after a fine sliding tackle. The FCB medics are on the pitch attending to the player.

Tonight's Barcelona win sees the Catalan side now just three points behind Real Madrid in the LaLiga table.

Next weekend, Xavi's side face Valencia at Mestalla with Madrid facing Girona at the Bernabeu.

Just over ten minutes of the game to go but to be honest, this contest ended a long time ago with the home side bagging three goals in a ten minute spell. 

Eric Garcia carded as he clips Yeray.

Dembele makes way as Pablo Torre makes his FCB debut. 

Great performance from the French striker tonight. 

Over 84,000 fans in attendance tonight at Camp Nou. Big crowd for what is always an attractive fixture.

Four nil to Barcelona as Torres slides home after a fine assist from Dembele.

Busquets carded as he clips an Athletic player as Sancet almost latches on to the resulting free-kick.

Ansu Fati is very much a player on the verge of Luis Enrique's Spain squad. The young Barcelona player has suffered badly with injury and seems to have lost a yard or two of pace as he is out run in a tussle to win the ball with an Athletic defender.

First time Ansu Fati is on the ball but the sub drives over the bar but not by much.

Xavi now thinking ahead to Wednesday's home UCL clash against Bayern and Saturday's trip to Valencia.

Marcos Alonso, Ferran and Fati on for Lewandowski, Kounde and Pedri.

More bad news as Dani Garcia is now injured and looks in some distress as the former Eibar man is in tears. 

De Marcos also leaves the pitch with Sancet on for Dani and Lekue on for the Athletic captain.

Dembele shoots but fires straight at Unai Simon. Still no sign of an Athletic Club revival with Barcelona in total cruise control.

Almost 4-0 as the ball rattles off the Athletic post as Dani Garcia drills the ball off Pedri, the ball hits the post and bounces back into open play. Another let-off for the visitors. 

A similar pattern emerging to what we saw in the first 45. Barcelona dominate in possession as Athletic struggle. 

Raul Garcia and Sancet warming up for the Basque side and set to make an appearance imminently.

No changes at the break for either side.

The sides make their way back to the Camp Nou pitch and what can the Basque side offer by way of reply to this 3-0 scoreline.

Xavi's side were also 3-0 ahead midweek against Villarreal after 45 minutes with no further goals in the second 45.

Good news for Barcelona & La Roja fans with early medical assessments on Gavi have ruled out any muscular problems with the player just having bruising in the groin area. 

Any muscular tear at this stage of the year would spell bad news for any player set to make the trip to the Gulf for the World Cup.

FCB 3-0 ATH

Way, way too easy for the home side at Camp Nou.

The whistle sounds at Camp Nou and it's a whitewash for FC Barcelona with Athletic being totally outclassed by the Catalan side who bagged three goals in a ten minute spell and then took their feet off the gas ever so slightly. 

The only concern of the night for the Catalan side is the potential serious injury to Gavi who limped off during the half and seemed to have damaged hios groin.

Berenguer musters Athletic's first shot but the tame effort is easy for Ter Stegen to gather.

Athletic really have been outclassed in the opening half. Los Leones have still yet to muster a shot on/off target. Ernesto Valverde is not having the Camp Nou return he would have hoped for.

The fourth official has confirmed that we'll have 5 minutes of added time.

Less than five minutes to go in this first half and the energy levels have dropped at Camp Nou with the three goals in a ten minute spell killing off the visitors.

Balde has looked excellent for Barcelona tonight with the teenage a major headache for Athletic with his marauding runs down his own left flank.

Poor old Iñaki Williams is getting nothing of the ball as he cuts a sole figure in the Athletic attack. A goal from the visitors imperative ahead of the break but from the balance of play that looks like a tall order.

Gavi is in trouble and this does not look good.

With the World Cup just 28 days away, this will be of concern for Luis Enrique especially if it's a muscle tear.

The 18-year-old looks in distress as Kessie replaces the player from Los Palacios (Sevilla).

Gavi getting medical assistance after the foul. The No. 30 is back on the pitch and the game continues as we pass the half an hour mark.

Xavi carded as he complains about a foul on Gavi.

Possession FCB 70-30 Athletic (%)

Shots on target: FCB 4-0 Athletic

One way traffic

What can Valverde do now with his men having been outclassed for the first 25 minutes of action?

It's a whitewash here with Athletic being totally outclassed

Injured Herrera having to be replaced by Dani Garcia. The former PSG man seems to have developed a hamstring issue.

Sergi Roberto bags the second of the night and with the assistance of a deflection, finds the back of the night.

Card for De Marcos as he barges into Balde.

Dembele nods Barcelona ahead. Unai Simon saves well from the Frenchman and Lewandowski sends the ball back and the winger makes it 1-0.

Limited consistent rhythm to proceedings in the opening ten minutes with a surprising number of wayward passes.

Dembele scoops the ball over and looks for Gavi who is inches offisde. 

The most incisive passage of play from the home side.

A cagey start from both teams as the sides ease their way into the action. As anticipated Barcelona dominating possession as Athletic sit deep with Iñaki Williams the sole striking outlet for the Basque side.

Great turn of pace from Balde and he slides the ball through to Lewandowski but the striker was well offside. Athletic yet to get a look-in on time with the ball.

Barcelona start the game and we're underway at Camp Nou.

FCB-Athletic: weather

An extremely mild October night at Camp Nou with a current temperature of 21C/70F and a 2% possibility of rain. Ideal conditions for players and supporters alike. 

Plenty of red and white clad supporters at the Barcelona stadium this evening.

A decent round of applause for Valverde too... The Basque coach fondly remembered for his time at Camp Nou.

The teams make their way to the Camp Nou pitch, Barcelona in their traditional azulgrana (more of a red, blue and navy this season) and Athletic tonight in red and white striped but with white shorts rather than that traditional black.

Barcelona have yet to ship a goal in LaLiga this season at Camp Nou. The Catalan side have only dropped two points at home too and that came in the season opener at home to Rayo Vallecano in a 0-0 draw.

Xavi on Athletic

“Athletic will be tactically different and I’ll make changes to deal with a physical opponent. We were looking a video today of ways to attack and defend against them. They have good centre backs like Yeray, and Íñigo is world class, they’re get the ball out well and are strong in the air.”

It's a big week in store for FC Barcelona with the next seven days set to condition a great part of their season ahead. A win at home over Athletic is imperative if Xavi's side are to maintain the race with Real Madrid who won again last night at home to Sevilla.

Barcelona then face Bayern midweek in the Champions League and need to win but more importantly need Inter to slip up at home as they face Czech side Plzen.

The week concludes for Barcelona with a tricky away trip to Mestalla. 

One has to go back to the 2001-02 season for the last Athletic Club league win at Camp Nou (the Basque side did record a Spanish Super Cup win in the Catalan capital in 2021), but two decades have past since Los Leones have recorded a league win against FC Barcelona at home.

Busquets, Frenkie de Jong, Pedri and Gavi all in the Barça XI midfield tonight.

Lewandowski, goal machine

Polish striker Robert Lewandowski really has hit the ground running with FC Barcelona. The forward who move to Camp Nou this summer from Bayern Munich has already netted 11 LaLiga goals and finds the target every 72 minutes of league action with a 31% goals to shots ratio.

His detractors however point to the fact that on the big stage (games vs. Bayern, Inter, El Clasico), the Pole has yet to strike but his impact at the Catalan club has no doubt been impressive.

Valverde confirms Athletic XI

Iñaki Williams will cut a sole figure upfront for Athletic Club as 'Los Leones' play a 4-2-3-1 formation. The Williams brothers have managed 7 goals in LaLiga this season with older Iñaki bagging four and Nico finding the net three times.

Barcelona-Athletic: match official

Referee Juan Martínez Munuera will take charge of the matchday 11 fixture between Barcelona and Athletic at Camp Nou.

The 40-year-old Benidorm native has been officiating in Spain's top flight since 2013 and has been a FIFA listed official since 2015.

Nico Williams hoping for place in Qatar

The younger of the two Williams brothers, Nico will be looking to create a positive impression on the big Camp Nou stage tonight knowing that a solid showing will help his cause in securing a place in Luis Enrique's Spain squad as the World Cup looms on the horizon.

Big brother Iñaki will be on the plane to Doha with the Ghana 'Black Stars' squad.

With just two defeats all season, Athletic Club sit in 6th place in the table and are the only side in the top six not to have the distraction of European football midweek.

The 'El Clasico' defeat to Real Madrid, the only LaLiga hiccup for Barcelona but it's in Europe where Xavi's side are really on the ropes as they need a miracle to progress to the Round of 16 of the Champions League but may have to settle for Europa League football come February.

Xavi names FCB XI

Once again Lewandowski and Dembele lead the line for the Catalan giants at Camp Nou.

Barcelona are still without Araujo, Memphis and Christensen with Valverde able to count on a full strength Athletic Club squad for the trip to the Catalan capital.

Barcelona-Athletic: past three meetings

27 Feb 2022: Barcelona 4-0 Athletic

20 Jan 2022: Athletic 3-2 Barcelona

21 Aug 2021: Athletic 1-1 Barcelona

Valverde returns

On 13 January 2020, Barça sacked Ernesto Valverde when they were top of LaLiga. A defeat in the semi-final of the Spanish Super Cup, along with criticism of his play was enough to remove him from the Barça dugout.

Almost three years later, he returns to Camp Nou with his Athletic side looking to break into the top four.

Barcelona looking to close the gap

The Blaugrana will be hoping to record back-to-back wins on Sunday after beating Villarreal 3-0 on Thursday night.

After 10 league games in 2022-23, the Camp Nou outfit sit in second place on 25 points, six behind leaders Real Madrid.

Athletic are currently sixth in LaLiga and head into the clash at Camp Nou with 18 points from their opening 10 games of the campaign.

Tonight's game is certain to be a poignant night for Ernesto Valverde as the Athletic coach returns to Camp Nou where he managed Barcelona from 2017-2020.

The action from the Catalan capital kicks-off at 21:00 CEST / 3:00 pm ET

Hello and welcome to our live coverage from Camp Nou as Barcelona welcome Athletic Club.