Barcelona made their long-awaited return to Camp Nou in Saturday's La Liga meeting with Athletic Bilbao, albeit with a restricted capacity of just over 45,000.
The Blaugrana made light work of their first competitive match at Camp Nou since May 2023. Robert Lewandowski, Ferran Torres and Fermin Lopez all found the net before Athletic's Oihan Sancet was shown a straight red card. Torres went on to grab his second and Barcelona's fourth to round off a successful outing for Hansi Flick's side.
Barcelona finished the game and the weekend in high spirits as the win helped them reduce the gap to Real Madrid to just one point at the top of the table.
As for Athletic, they headed back to Bilbao in a downbeat mood after suffering their fourth defeat in the last five competitive games.
It has now emerged that the visitors were not in the greatest of spirits before a ball had even been kicked at the redeveloped Camp Nou, which is still undergoing further construction despite being reopened for the Catalan giants.
Athletic player offer Camp Nou criticism
TV cameras caught some of Athletic's players speaking about the stadium when they ventured out onto the pitch before Saturday's contest.
According to lip readers, the away side were less than complimentary about their surroundings.
An underwhelmed Alex Berenguer apparently asked: “Everything still looks the same, doesn’t it?”
Urko Izeta then supposedly said: “I think it's very ugly.”
Barcelona's Lewandowski was much more positive in his assessment of the day, admitting that it was a “special” feeling to finally return to the club's iconic home. The Polish striker also feels that Barca are a “slightly stronger team” when they play at Camp Nou.
FGG says: Exercise caution with lip-reading reports
While Berenguer and Izeta may well have been critical of the Camp Nou, we should exercise some caution with the reported comments, considering we are relying on lip readers to relay what was said on the Camp Nou pitch.
There is also an argument that Berenguer and Izeta have a point, despite the fact that it is great to have Barcelona back at Camp Nou.
Fans may be back in the stadium, but the stadium is still a construction site, and as a result, it does not look as good as it will once all the work is completed.
The stadium will also look better once it reaches its full capacity of 105,000 spectators, although we will have to remain patient as the redevelopment works continue.