Staff Reporter.
Goals from Gavi and Lamine Yamal earned Barcelona a 2-0 win over Athletic Bilbao in the Spanish Super Cup semifinal in Jeddah on Wednesday to reach their third successive final.
Hansi Flick’s side made a flying start to the match, held at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Saudi Arabia, and took a 17th-minute lead when Gavi slotted in from Alejandro Balde’s pass.
Teenager Yamal got the second seven minutes into the second half when he ran on to a chipped pass before driving past Unai Simon.
Inaki Williams thought he had pulled a goal back in the final minute of normal time for Athletic Club, but it was ruled out for offside.
Barcelona will face either Real Madrid and Mallorca, who play on Thursday, in Sunday’s final.
The semi-final came too soon for either Dani Olmo and Pau Victor to play for Barcelona after the club was granted provisional permission to register the pair by the Spanish national sports council (CSD) earlier on Wednesday.
The players, both summer signings, were only registered for the first half of the season as Barcelona could not meet La Liga’s wage cap restrictions.
On Saturday, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and La Liga rejected Barcelona’s request to register them.
However, the CSD stepped in on Wednesday following an appeal by the club to grant a precautionary measure and allow the pair to play in the short term.
They could now feature in Sunday’s Super Cup final.
“Yamal was coming back from an injury. We had to change. 60 minutes or 65 we had to change, it was totally clear,” Flick said after the game. “I am very happy, so we are looking for the 2-0 victory, this is very good for us. We are in the final, this is our goal. We are happy also that we have a clean sheet. “The team performed well and I’m happy. We deserved to go through today.”