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.
