Late goals give Barcelona home comfort at new stadium

Barcelona have struck twice in the dying minutes in La Liga to guarantee a house-warming celebration at their temporary new home.

Late goals from Pedri and Ferran Torres allowed the defending champions to beat Cadiz 2-0 in their first official match at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium in Montjuic, where the team will play while the Nou Camp undergoes an extensive makeover.

Pedri opened the scoring in the 82nd minute before Torres added a second in stoppage time.

Barcelona secured their first win of the season despite the absence of coach Xavi and forward Raphinha after their red cards in the 0-0 opening draw at Getafe last weekend.

Xavi watched from the stands at the Olympic stadium and said he was happy with the team’s new home.

“I really liked how the fans supported the team the whole time. This is very positive for the club,” he said. “It was a good start.”

The win came before a crowd of 39,603 at the Lluis Companys, which was the main stadium for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and can hold 49,000 – compared to the 99,000-capacity Nou Camp, Europe’s largest soccer stadium.

Barcelona’s spiritual home is undergoing a long-delayed overhaul.

Atletico Madrid were held to a 0-0 draw at Real Betis.

“We were better in the first half but in the second it became harder because of the heat,” Betis coach Manuel Pellegrini said.

“But you can never say that a draw against Atletico is a bad result.”

Both teams were trying to win their second consecutive match to start the season.

“We didn’t create a lot of danger in the first half but could have done better in front of the goal after halftime,” Atletico coach Diego Simeone said.

Getafe remain winless after losing 3-0 at Girona, thanks to two second-half goals from Uruguay striker Cristhian Stuani and a 12th-minute strike from Venezuela midfielder Yangel Herrera in the first.