BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Lamine Yamal got the better of fellow Spaniard Nico Williams as Barcelona beat Athletic Bilbao 2-1 on Saturday, the first meeting between the two young talents since the clubs met. led her nation to the European Championship title.
Yamal opened the scoring before Robert Lewandowski scored the second to give Barcelona two wins in two games at the start of the Spanish league season.
The Barcelona teenager scored in the 24th minute with a curling shot reminiscent of Lionel Messi’s favourite moves. Yamal controlled a deflected ball, taking two touches to run along the outside of the box before finding the angle to shoot with his left foot. The ball found the back of the net after deflecting off Athletic’s Íñigo Lekue.
Yamal and Williams spoke before and after kickoff. Yamal declined to reveal what they had talked about in a post-match interview, saying: “We’re just good friends.”
But he did, perhaps half-jokingly, take a swipe at his buddy when he described his goal.
“I saw Nico, who is not very intense in defense, come and I found the space I needed to shoot,” Yamal said.
Oihan Sancet equalised in the 42nd minute with a converted penalty after Barcelona’s Pau Cubarsí brought down Alejandro Berenguer.
But Barcelona did not allow Williams to get going in attack and kept the pressure on until Lewandowski restored the lead. The Polish striker had already hit the bar with his head when Raphinha and Pedri’s passing move sent him through to the goal in the 75th minute.
Lewandowski scored a brace in Barcelona’s 2-1 win over Valencia in the Spanish league opening match last week.
Hansi Flick, who made his home debut as Barcelona’s new coach, started midfielder Marc Bernal, who is 17 like Yamal and Cubarsí, for the second time in a row.
Barcelona were rumoured to be interested in signing Williams from the Basque club in this transfer window. Flick hugged Williams when the winger was substituted towards the end of the match. The German coach said he congratulated Williams on his performance at Euro 2024.
Athletic were able to use their third goalkeeper, Álex Padilla from the youth team, after Spanish goalkeeper Unai Simón and his reserve goalkeeper Julen Agirrezabala sustained minor injuries.
The two teams provided seven members of Spain’s Euro 2024 squad, which won the continental title last month.
MORE RESULTS
Take Kubo came on as a substitute and scored ten minutes from time to give Real Sociedad a 1-0 lead at newly promoted Espanyol, while Getafe and Rayo Vallecano drew 0-0.
Hosts Osasuna beat Mallorca 1-0 on the return of former coach Jagoba Arrasate, his first visit to Pamplona since leaving the club, with Ruben García scoring in the 55th minute.
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