Rodri celebrates Barcelona debut after Athletic Club win

Rodri says Barcelona is the club he has always wanted to play for after making his first official appearance for the Catalan side in their 2-0 La Liga victory over Athletic Club.

The match, which was postponed from the opening round of the season, gave Barcelona a second win from two league games and moved them to six points at the top of the table.

Rodri, speaking to Spanish broadcaster DAZN, said: “I am very happy to have played my first game, and also happy with the victory. We have won two out of two.”

The midfielder made his debut despite having completed only a small number of training sessions with his new team. He said the appearance had been important in helping him regain his match rhythm and adapt to Barcelona’s style.

“It is important to recover the rhythm of matches and adapt to this great team,” Rodri added. “The first minutes were good, and the feeling is positive.”

He said the long summer break had left him needing to rebuild both his fitness and sharpness.

“Of course, the summer period was long, perhaps longer than usual,” he said. “I need to recover my fitness and match rhythm quickly, but I am very happy with how things are going so far.”

Rodri also spoke openly about his desire to join Barcelona, describing the club as the place where he had always wanted to be.

“I always wanted Barcelona. This is the place where I wanted to be,” he said. “The best players in the world are here, and you always have to perform at the required level.”

He believes there is still considerable scope for improvement within the squad.

“This team has a lot of room to grow, and we will work on that,” Rodri said.

The victory was secured by goals from Raphinha and Fermin Lopez, with both players scoring their third goals for Barcelona in two La Liga matches this season.

Rodri also praised Lamine Yamal, who did not score but impressed during the match after what the midfielder described as a period of possible frustration.

“Yamal is an incredible player. He perhaps went through a period in which he felt some frustration,” Rodri said.

“We tried to lift his spirits, and today we saw the best version of Lamine. Even though he was unable to score, I am happy with what he produced because that is what we need from him. The goals will come because the talent is there.”

The result meant Barcelona kept a clean sheet for the second time in the new campaign.

It was also a record-equalling start for manager Hansi Flick at Camp Nou. Flick became only the second Barcelona manager in history to win his first 15 La Liga matches at the stadium.

The only previous manager to achieve the same feat was Helenio Herrera, who reached the milestone in 1959.