Griezmann’s Brace Not Enough As Athletic Bilbao Wins Super Cup

 

Athletic Bilbao secured a 3-2 win over Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup final on Sunday evening at the Estadio De La Cartuja in Sevilla.

Barcelona had beaten Real Sociedad on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the semifinals. Atletico Bilbao had got past Real Madrid 2-1.

Antoine Griezmann had given the Catalonia side the lead in the 40th minute before Oscar De Marcos levelled 2 minutes later.

Raul Garcia scored the Brace that knocked out Real Madrid in the semifinal, and he indeed scored in the 57th minute, but his goal was chalked off for offside.

Griezmann then scored what looked like the winner for Barcelona in the 77th minute, but Asier Villalibre scored in the 90th minute to force extra time.

Inaki Williams scored the winner in the 3rd minute of extra time to secure Atlético Bilbao’s win. Messi got his first red card for Barcelona late in the game for violent conduct.

It is the third Super Copa title for the San Mames side after their 1984 and 2015 triumphs. This is Barcelona’s 11th runner-up finish after losing the game.

Barcelona is the most successful team in the Spanish Supercopa after 13 titles and 11 runner-up finishes.

However the last time Barcelona won the Spanish super cup was in 2018 although they finished in the semifinal in the 2019/2020 season.

Real Madrid won the last edition of the competition after beating Atletico Madrid in the final.

Barcelona will now turn their attention to the Spanish La Liga where they are third on the log behind the Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.

Barcelona’s next game is on the 24th of January at Elche while Real Madrid will play Alaves away from home a day earlier.

Real Sociedad will host Real Betis on the 23rd while Atletico Bilbao will host Getafe on the 25th of January.

 

Written by: Daniel Ademiju Idowu