Athletic Club 0-2 Barcelona: Player Ratings as the Catalans Cruise to the Spanish Super Cup Final

SI Soccer

·8. Januar 2025

Athletic Club 0-2 Barcelona: Player Ratings as the Catalans Cruise to the Spanish Super Cup Final

Barcelona looked back to their best and punched their ticket to the Spanish Super Cup final on Sunday with a 2–0 victory over Athletic Bilbao.

Lamine Yamal played from the start after recovering from injury, unlike his dynamic winger partner in Spain's 2024 UEFA Euro run, Nico Williams, who started from the bench with an ankle injury. Both teams had chances in the first half, but it was Barcelona who opened the scoring with a well crafted play that Gavi finished-off in the 17th minute. In the final minutes of the first half, Wojciech Szczęsny had a couple of key saves to keep the Catalans in front.

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Barcelona dominated the early goings of the second half and Gavi set up Yamal to double the Blaugrana advantage. The two-goal lead allowed Barça to put the game on ice, as Athletic struggled to create chances to get back in the semifinal, though, the Basque country team did have two goals disallowed for offside. With the game under control, Hansi Flick made changes to protect the fitness of some of his key players, namely Yamal.

The Catalans now await the winner of the second semifinal between Real Madrid and Mallorca, with the first El Clásico of 2025 looking like a real possibility for Sunday's final.

Player ratings below from the first semifinal of the Spanish Super Cup.