Lamine Yamal was not even born when Barça last opened a Champions League campaign with a win on the road. Twenty years and four days had passed since 14 September 2005, when Frank Rijkaard led the team to a 2-0 win at Werder Bremen, before it finally happened again at St James Park on Thursday.

Deco and Messi celebrate Barça's win in Bremen in 2005

Four tries

However, part of the reason for that is because of 19 opening matches in the competition over those years, Barça were at home in an extraordinary 15 of them. Only on four occasions did they have to travel for their first game, thrice to Italy and once to France.

But they didn't win any of them:
2009: Inter Milan (0-0)
2011: AC Milan (2-2)
2015: AS Roma (1-1)
2024: AS Monaco (2-1)

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From Bremen to Paris

If history is anything to go by, the 2-1 victory over Newcastle United bodes well for the future. The season that Barça opened with a win in Bremen, they went on to reach the final and collect the coveted trophy with a 2-1 win over Arsenal in Paris.

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