Barcelona made a winning return to Camp Nou on Thursday, beating Athletic Club 2-0 in their first home fixture of the season, with captain Raphinha breaking the deadlock before Fermin Lopez sealed the points late on.

Barcelona dominated proceedings from the opening whistle, finishing the contest with 70 percent possession and 10 shots on target as they underlined their intent to defend the title after a strong opening win over Elche.

The breakthrough arrived in the 38th minute, when Pedri split the Athletic Club defence with a superb through ball to send Raphinha clear. The Brazilian captain rounded goalkeeper Unai Simon before slotting into an empty net to open the scoring.

Barcelona continued to press for a second, with Lamine Yamal striking the crossbar shortly after the restart and Raphinha also finding the woodwork earlier in the match, while Athletic Club's Oihan Sancet had a low driven effort come back off the post at the other end.

Simon was kept busy throughout, making seven saves as Athletic Club struggled to contain the hosts' relentless attacking pressure, with Barcelona's dominance reflected clearly in the shot count and territory throughout the evening.

Lopez doubled Barcelona's advantage in the 82nd minute, capitalising after Aymeric Laporte failed to deal with a low cross from substitute Karim Adeyemi, allowing the midfielder to control and finish from close range.

New signing Rodri also made his Barcelona debut during the match, coming on for Raphinha as head coach Hansi Flick rotated his options in the closing stages, with Dani Olmo also introduced from the bench.

The result moves Barcelona level on six points from two matches alongside Real Madrid, Real Betis and Sevilla, with the reigning champions sitting top of the table on goal difference, while Athletic Club remain without a point alongside Real Sociedad at the bottom of the standings.