"There was no sign of Laszlo Kubala or Johan Cruyff, their statues still safely packed in storage, and Lionel Messi had sneaked in alone under cover of darkness a fortnight before but FC Barcelona's current players were finally back at the Camp Nou as 45,157 fans and a handful of men in high-vis jackets and hard hats watched them return home 909 days later."
"It was like old times. Athletic Club, ideal guests, had not won here in 30 matches and after two years away they didn't win this time either, the last of four goals conceded soon followed by fireworks on an afternoon of reunion. Montjuic was the beginning; the Camp Nou is where history will be written, Lamine Yamal had posted during the week as Barcelona prepared to return after two years as temporary tenants at the Olympic stadium."
"Lamine has played here before once, for seven minutes, when he was 15 but five of Barcelona's starters had not. As for the coach, the first time he came, he had just been sacked by a third division team but had looked at the home bench and thought that one day he would sit there. Here, on the first day of the rest of their lives, he had. Anything is possible, he said."
FC Barcelona returned to the Camp Nou after 909 days with 45,157 fans in attendance and visible construction in one stand. Statues of Laszlo Kubala and Johan Cruyff remained in storage, and Lionel Messi had arrived privately beforehand. Barcelona defeated Athletic Club, who had not won at the ground in 30 matches, by four goals scored by Robert Lewandowski, Ferran Torres (two), and Fermin Lopez. Lamine Yamal provided a landmark assist and celebrated in the stadium corner. The occasion was framed as the start of a new era and described as historic and full of optimism: 'Anything is possible.'
Read at www.theguardian.com
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