January 07, (THEWILL) — Barcelona cruised into the Spanish Super Cup final with a comprehensive 5-0 demolition of Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday evening in Jeddah. The holders dominated from start to finish at the King Abdullah Sports City stadium, booking their place in Sunday’s showpiece against either Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid.
Ferran Torres opened the scoring after 22 minutes when Fermin Lopez’s miscued effort fell kindly for the forward to bundle home. Lopez then blasted into the top corner following Raphinha’s cut-back, before Roony Bardghji benefited from Unai Simon’s extraordinary error as the Athletic goalkeeper allowed the low shot to squirm under his body. Raphinha lashed a fourth into the top left corner after 38 minutes, then added his second shortly after half-time with a close-range finish.
Hansi Flick’s side have now won nine consecutive matches across all competitions and sit top of LaLiga. The record 15-time Spanish Super Cup champions are targeting a repeat of last season, when victory in this competition provided the springboard for LaLiga and Copa del Rey triumphs. The German manager left teenage sensation Lamine Yamal on the bench but still watched his team deliver a ruthless performance.
Athletic endured a miserable evening during a difficult season for the Basque club. Simon’s goalkeeping howler will concern Spain manager Luis de la Fuente, who was absent with flu, particularly with Barcelona’s Joan Garcia waiting in the wings ahead of the World Cup. Oihan Sancet struck the post with Athletic’s best chance but the 2021 champions were comprehensively outclassed.
The Catalans ripped through Athletic’s defence repeatedly during an eight-minute spell that yielded three goals before the break. Barcelona will discover their final opponents on Thursday when Madrid’s two giants meet in the second semi-final.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
