Barcelona will face Athletic Bilbao in the Spanish Super Cup final on Sunday after the Basque club stunned defending champions Real Madrid in the second semi-final on Thursday night. Real Madrid were the overwhelming favourites to face Barcelona in the final with several football fans expecting an El Clasico final but that was not to be thanks to Athletic Bilbao.
The Basque club held off Real Madrid in the second half of their Spanish Super Cup semi-final clash to seal a final place with Barcelona courtesy a 2-1 win over the holders. Real Madrid won the inaugural edition (2019 edition) of the four-team Spanish Super Cup format by beating Atletico Madrid on penalties in the final.
Athletic Bilbao were able to seal a Spanish Super Cup final meeting with Barcelona through the help of ex-Atletico Madrid attacker Raul Garcia who scored a second half brace. New Athletic Bilbao boss Marcelino was able to get the better of Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane with the help of the goals from Raul Garcia in the first half of the encounter.
His first goal came on 18 minutes off a fantastic pass from Dani Garcia before he added a second goal seven minutes before the interval. He converted a spot kick awarded to Bilbao after Lucas Vazquez was penalised for a foul on Inigo Martinez. Real Madrid dominated the game possession-wise but they lacked the cutting edge required to trouble Athletic Bilbao until Karim Benzema halved the deficit to give his team a lifeline but Athletic Bilbao held on for the final 17 minutes of the game to secure their place in the Spanish Super Cup final.
They will face Barcelona who had qualified for the Spanish Super Cup final by beating another Basque club in Real Sociedadon penalties after the two teams shared two goals. Barcelona beat Real Sociedad 3-2 on penalties.