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Barcelona secured a hard-fought 2-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao in the Spanish Super Cup semi-final on Wednesday night, advancing to the title match. The fixture, played in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, sets up a potential El Clásico final against Real Madrid or a matchup with Mallorca.
Barça started strong, pressing high up the pitch and forcing early mistakes from Athletic. Raphinha nearly scored twice in the first 10 minutes, and the Blaugrana were rewarded with a goal in the 17th minute. A sensational passing sequence down the left wing, which carved the Athletic defense wide open, ended with Alejandro Balde’s assist and Gavi’s impressive finish.
The Catalans almost doubled their lead a few moments later when Lamine Yamal won the ball back high up the pitch and played Raphinha one-on-one with Unai Simón. However, the Bilbao goalkeeper made a strong save to stop the Brazilian.
As the first half progressed, Barça failed to capitalize on their momentum and slowly dropped their levels. Athletic began growing into the game, taking advantage of Barça’s decline. The Basque side’s wing play and a couple of dangerous crosses into the box eventually sent a clear warning that they were ready to equalize.
Iñaki Williams had a huge opportunity right before the break, but Wojciech Szczesny and the Barça center-backs made sure to keep the ball out of the net. The halftime whistle came to end a period that wasn’t exactly pretty to watch but had plenty of fight and intensity from both sides.
In the second half, Barça doubled their lead through Lamine Yamal’s goal, assisted by Gavi. Iñigo Martínez won the ball back at the midfield line, and Gavi played a gorgeous pass through to Yamal, who was one-on-one with Simón. Yamal took his time before finding the net, doubling the Blaugrana lead just eight minutes into the final period.
Athletic had nothing to lose and pushed aggressively, making substitutions and attempting long balls, crosses, and shots from distance. However, Szczesny remained largely untroubled, making only a couple of fairly easy saves as the game entered its final 10 minutes.
In the dying moments, Athletic thought they had scored twice, but both goals were disallowed for offside. Óscar de Marcos was played through on goal by Nico Williams and dinked Szczesny, while Frenkie de Jong lost the ball in midfield, and Iñaki Williams was all alone in front of the keeper to hit the net. However, the calls went against them, and Athletic were denied a chance to ignite their comeback.
The final whistle secured Barça’s spot in the title game, setting up a thrilling potential matchup. The Blaugrana will face either Mallorca or Real Madrid in the final, with the first trophy of the season on the line.
