Young starlets Gavi and Lamine Yamal fired Barcelona, without Dani Olmo after his licence to play was revoked, into the Spanish Super Cup final with a 2-0 win against Athletic Bilbao.
Spanish playmaker Olmo was cleared to play again on a temporary basis before the game on Wednesday, but the decision came too late for him or Pau Victor, in the same position, to feature against Copa del Rey winners Athletic.
Gavi put Barcelona closed after 17 minutes and the adolescent Yamal scored the moment early after the break.
The Spanish and European champions of Real Madrid opposed the finalist of the Majorca Cup on Thursday in the semifinal.
“We don’t care [who we face in the final]. It will be complicated and need to win it, which is the thing, and pass the house with the trophy,” Yamal told Movistar after the game.
Barcelona, who described as a finalist in LaLiga, brilliantly and Raphinha stole from a beautiful crossing by Jules Kounde and forced Unai Simon in intelligent avoidance with a loose kick.
He does not ask when the Catalans broke the dead final with Alejandro Balde cutting the ball for Gavi, betting on the role of the attack on the midfielder of Olmo, to pass home.
The 20 -year -old showed an imaginary watch in his celebration, a wink to Olmo, which produces the same gesture after scoring.
At the other end, Inaki Williams dallied on the ball too long as Athletic’s best attacking move of the first half broke down.
Yamal, 17, has added the moment in Barcelona after Raphinha’s shot was stored, but an lobe attempt was misunderstood.
Wojciech Szczesny, his starting moment for Barcelona’s goal, made a clever avoidance to keep Iñaki Williams remotely before the break.
Barcelona doubled their lead early in the second half when Gavi slipped in Yamal who finished with aplomb.
“Athletics is a very physical team that makes you run a lot. We were especially suffering towards the end, but we were to play well, and we are very happy,” Yamal added.
Veteran Polish striker Robert Lewandowski had the chance to add the third, scoring when he is well placed.
The sports coach Ernesto Valverde, who brushed himself as head of Barcelona after a defeat in the same stadium in 2020, brought Nico Williams to see to overthrow the game.
The Spain of Spain, strongly connected to Barcelona in the summer, was not enough to begin, but had a positive effect on the bank.
The end placed in Oscar de Marcos position to attack, however, the Atlético defender had lost his own offside and the excluded purpose.
Iñaki Williams also ruled out an offside target after Frenkie de Jong’s poor pass took a slight deflection from Alvaro Djalo in the direction of Ghana international.
Barcelona assured his victory and his parties at war in the final of Sunday, in which Olmo will appear.