FC Barcelona have blitzed their way into Sunday’s Spanish Super Cup Final (kick-off 8pm CET) with a simply staggering 5–0 victory over Athletic Club. A colossal Raphinha struck twice, with Ferran Torres, Fermín López and Roony Bardghji also on target — four of the goals coming in the first 38 minutes, rendering the second half little more than a formality.
The biggest winning margin in the competition’s history perfectly reflected what unfolded on the pitch. Barça were utterly dominant from start to finish, while their opponents barely laid a glove on them. It was certainly an uncharacteristically poor showing from the Basques, but that owed much to the brilliance of a Barça side that seems to improve with every outing. On this occasion, the blaugranes were simply out of this world.
Ferran opens the floodgates
Had it not been for a handful of solid interventions from Athletic goalkeeper Unai Simón, Barça could have been ahead well before they eventually broke the deadlock on 22 minutes. It remains unclear whether Fermín’s volley was intended as a shot or a pass, but Ferran Torres made no mistake on the end of it, turning sharply and firing home from close range with trademark precision.
Barça were even more dominant after scoring and it wasn’t long before they’d doubled their lead.
Bang on the half-hour Raphinha capped a strong run down the left with a simply perfect pass through the Basque defence to meet Fermín running in. The 22-year-old couldn’t have asked for a better connection and that was 2-0.
Athletic already looked like a beaten team and there was still an hour of football to play. And things were about to get worse for them. Much worse. Barça were on a roll.
Running riot
Just four minutes later, Roony had a pop from an angle. It was a speculative attempt that shouldn’t have troubled Unai too much, but the ball slipped under the keeper’s body and across the line.
This was no longer a game. It was a rout. By the time the teams went in for the break, Barça had done it again. And what a goal from man-of-the-match Raphinha! The Brazilian swept onto Ronny’s pass, unleashed a thunderbolt into the top left corner and that was 4-0.
Oihan Sancet struck the post before the whistle blew, but even if it had gone in, Athletic already knew they were fighting a losing battle. This game had blaugrana written all over it. Culers could already start making plans for Sunday’s final.
Eyes on the final
And there was more to come. The second half had barely started before the goal count was up to five. A series of blocked attempts eventually led to the ball landing at the feet of somebody who already had six goals from six games. Raphinha is in insatiable form, and that was yet another for his collection.
The only question fans were asking now was how many more Barça could score. But with a final to be played on Sunday and absolutely no need to overdo things, they kept things sensible, eased off the accelerator and the second half passed off with very little more in the way of major incident.
It didn’t need to. The celebrations had already begun long before the final whistle put Athletic out of their agony. A simply majestic Barça are staying a little bit longer in Jeddah, and all that remains is to find out whether it’s Real or Atlético Madrid who stand between them and the trophy.
Semi-final number two is an 8pm CET kick-off on Thursday at the same venue.
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