Barcelona advanced to the Spanish Super Cup final after defeating Athletic Bilbao 2-0 in the semi-final on Wednesday evening at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Barcelona’s goals came from Gavi and Lamine Yamal, who found the net in the 17th and 52nd minutes. Barcelona will face the winner of Thursday’s match between Real Madrid and Real Mallorca, with the final set to take place on Sunday.
The match started with early pressure from Barcelona, as Lamine Yamal made a deep pass to Pedri in the 2nd minute. Pedri took a shot, but Athletic Bilbao’s goalkeeper Unai Simón made a brilliant save to deny him.
Barcelona’s pressure continued, with Rafinha firing a shot from outside the box in the third minute, but it sailed over Athletic Bilbao’s goal.
Barcelona took the lead in the 17th minute, with Gavi scoring after receiving a low pass from Alejandro Balde on the left side. Gavi took a precise shot that found the back of Unai Simón’s net.
Simón nearly handed Barcelona a second goal shortly after, making a poor pass that reached Robert Lewandowski. Lewandowski seized the opportunity and fired a powerful shot, but it flew over the crossbar.
Barcelona’s goalkeeper, Wojciech Szczęsny, had a similar misstep in the 29th minute when he attempted to clear the ball with his head. The ball fell to Iñaki Williams, but his shot was deflected out for a corner.
In the final moments of the first half, Berenguer sent a cross to Iñaki Williams, who volleyed the ball wide of the field, leaving the score at 1-0 in favour of Barcelona as the half ended.
At the start of the second half, Lamine Yamal doubled Barcelona’s lead in the 52nd minute. He received a pass from Gavi, sprinted forward, and slotted the ball past Unai Simón into the net.
Lewandowski missed a golden opportunity to make it 3-0 shortly afterwards. Raphinha made a strong run down the left flank and delivered a perfect cross, but Lewandowski failed to capitalize on the chance, mishitting his shot.
Barcelona’s goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny came close to making another mistake when a misjudged clearance almost led to a goal for Bilbao.
In the 71st minute, Iñaki Williams latched onto a through ball from Yuri, ran into the box, and tried to shoot, but the ball drifted wide of Barcelona’s goal.
Athletic Bilbao thought they had pulled one back in the 81st minute when De Marcos received a pass from Nico Williams and fired a shot into the net, but the goal was disallowed for offside.
Five minutes later, Iñaki Williams scored again for Bilbao, but once again, the referee ruled it out for offside. The Basque players protested, arguing that the pass to Williams had come from Barcelona’s Frenkie de Jong.
In the final moments, Bilbao defender Paredes made a crucial clearance off the goal line to deny Barcelona a third goal, as De Jong’s shot was heading toward the net.
