The cleanest way to describe Barcelona's 2-0 win over Athletic Club is that their goalkeeper never had to work. Athletic took five shots and put none of them on target. Joan García finished the night with no saves. Barcelona took 22 and hit the target with 10.
Unai Simón kept the first half honest
Lamine Yamal drew a one-handed save out of him on 18 minutes. Raphinha headed Xavi Espart's cross against the post on 23. Pedri had a goal ruled out for offside on 29. Barcelona had earned the lead two or three times before they got it.
It came on 37, and it came from the pass rather than the finish. Pedri slid a through ball between the centre backs, Raphinha took it round Simón and rolled it in from the right of the six-yard box.
Simón made eight saves in total. That is the sort of night where the goalkeeper is the reason a scoreline stays in single figures rather than the reason it stays level.
Yamal had seven shots and scored none of them
Three were on target and one hit the crossbar on 53 minutes. That is the evening's only real frustration: Barcelona's best player got his chances, took them badly, and it made no difference to the result.
Eight offside flags went against Barcelona, which is a lot, and points at runners and passers not yet reading each other two games into the season.
Athletic defended deep and went long
Twenty nine percent of the ball, 184 completed passes against Barcelona's 560, 52 long balls against 40, and 19 interceptions against seven. That is a plan being carried out rather than a team being overrun, and it held for 37 minutes.
Their best moment was Oihan Sancet hitting the post on 75. It does not show up in the shots-on-target column, because a shot that hits the woodwork is not on target, which is how a night this one-sided ends up reading as five shots to nothing.
The substitutes finished it
Hansi Flick made his changes on 63, Dani Olmo for Marc Bernal and Rodri, signed from Manchester City in a package worth around €76.5 million, on for Raphinha to make his debut. Karim Adeyemi and Jules Koundé followed on 80.
Two minutes after coming on, Adeyemi put a low cross in, Aymeric Laporte was caught in two minds by it, and Fermín López turned it in from close range. The player who had already had three shots, more than anyone bar Yamal, was in the right place when the mistake came.
Where it leaves them
Two matches, six points, seven scored, none conceded, first in La Liga on goal difference and level on points with Real Madrid, Betis and Sevilla. Their home run in the league is now 20 straight wins, the longest since the 25 between November 2012 and January 2014.
The back four was Eric García, Pau Cubarsí, Gerard Martín and Espart, with Bernal and Pedri in front of them. That is a young spine for a club with five days of a transfer window left, and it has not been beaten yet.
Rayo Vallecano visit on Monday.
