Barcelona are the first team to have earned a place in the final of this season’s Spanish Super Cup, having got past Athletic Bilbao in the semis. Gavi broke the deadlock in the 17th minute, and Lamine Yamal set the final score in the 52nd.
The teams
Bilbao boss Ernesto Valverde, once in charge at Barcelona, was without midfielder Oihan Sancet.
With Unai Simon in goal, Dani Vivian and Altor Paredes paired up at the back, flanked by Inigo Lekue and Yuri Berchiche. Benat Prados and Mikel Jauregizar were the midfield duo, while the trio of Inaki Williams, Unai Gomez and Alex Berenguer supported Gorka Guruzeta up front.
Right before the start of the game, Barcelona learned that their efforts to register Dani Olmo have been successful, but the former RB Leipzig attacking midfielder was obviously still ineligible to play.
Robert Lewandowski led the line in attack, with Raphinha, Gavi and Yamal behind. Pedri and Marc Casado paired up the middle of the park, while Alejandro Balde on the left and Jules Kounde on the right flanked centre-backs Pau Cubarsi and former Bilbao man Inigo Martinez. Interestingly enough, Wojciech Szczesny was in goal again, chosen ahead of Inaki Pena. Pena was the first choice for coach Hansi Flick in the absence of Ter Stegen earlier this season, but he has lost his place in the team reportedly through disciplinary issues.
Game recap
Barcelona firmly established domination from the start, but they created preciously little early on apart from a daring Raphinha effort from a free-kick. Nonetheless, their first properly conducted attacking move resulted with Alejandro Balde assisting Gavi to put Flick’s team ahead.
The goal livened things up, and after Inaki Williams ruined a fantastic chance for Bilbao, a mistake from their back line put Unai Simon in a situation where he had to deny Raphinha one-on-one, and then pick up a feeble follow-up effort from Yamal. In the 24th minute, goalscorer Gavi appealed for a penalty under contact, but there was far too little in it.
Both teams were playing mostly with high defensive lines, and passes in behind were relatively frequent at both ends of the pitch, forcing defenders and goalkeepers to stay on their toes.
Bilbao had several chances for an equalizer late in the first half. The first came in the 35th minute, with Berchiche putting the ball into the six yards for the incoming Guruzeta, but Szczesny snuffed the danger out and intercepted the low cross. Eight minutes later, Williams smashed a volley from a tight angle over the bar. The first-half stoppage time was running when another cross from the left forced Szczesny to deny Williams again.
Valverde’s men eventually paid the price for failing to take any of those chances. Six minutes had gone after the break when Inigo Martinez emphatically won the ball for Barcelona in the opposition pass, and after a small but important contribution from Pedri, Gavi released Yamal in behind and the young winger made no mistake against Simon, setting the scoreline which still stood at full time.
Lewandowski had a great chance to put the game completely beyond Bilbao only two minutes later, but he failed to divert Raphinha’s cross on target from close range.
Bilbao tried to fight back at that point, starting with a pair of powerful efforts from range which went straight into Szczesny, one from substitute Mikel Vesga, the other from Jauregizar.
A bit of controversy for flavour
Five minutes from time, Williams believed he had brought his team back into the fray as he broke through and hit the back of the net, but quite controversially, the VAR ruled the goal out for offside.
Williams was indeed in an offside position, but it wasn’t initially given as the ball came from a frightfully poor attempt at a backwards pass by Barcelona substitute Frenkie de Jong. However, the slow-motion footage revealed that De Jong’s pass picked up a very slight deflection off a Bilbao player and the offside was given, leaving Williams looking utterly bewildered.
Had the goal stood, the game would likely go into a highly intense finale, but it turned out to have been the last moment of excitement instead.
Barcelona in the final
Barcelona now await the outcome of the second semifinal, where Real Madrid face Mallorca. Their arch-rivals from the Spanish capital are obviously huge favourites to win, and it remains to be seen if Mallorca have what it takes to pull off a surprising victory.
If not, it will be another El Clasico, a clash of titans directly for a trophy.
Meanwhile, Bilbao will now travel home to prepare for their round-of-16 Copa del Rey match against Osasuna next Wednesday, followed by their meeting with Celta Vigo in La Liga three days later.
