La Liga giants Barcelona were led out by a new captain in their meeting with Athletic Club on Saturday.
This comes with the Blaugrana’s normal captaincy group having been unavailable for selection owing to respective fitness and suspension problems.
With all of Marc-André ter Stegen, Ronald Araújo, Frenkie de Jong, Raphinha and Pedri absent from Barca’s starting XI for the evening, Hansi Flick was left with a decision to make regarding his side’s stand-in leader.
And in the end, the German tactician opted to rely upon veteran striker Robert Lewandowski:
Lewandowski, for his part, has since gone on to enjoy the perfect start to life with the captain’s armband in Catalunya’s capital.
On the day of Barcelona’s long-awaited return to the Spotify Camp Nou, the Pole opened the game’s scoring inside the opening five minutes.
After breaking free inside the Athletic Club penalty area, Lewandowski drilled a low finish home at the near post to spark chaotic celebrations across the stadium.
Conor Laird – GSFN
