Barça destroyed a weak Athletic team yesterday and is already in the final of the Spanish Super Cup. The team led by Hansi Flick … He won a match in which he did not even need to shift into fifth gear to achieve a scandalous victory against a very poor rival, who gave up before the break against the Blaugrana gale. The goals from Ferran Torres, Fermín, Bardghji and Raphinha, on two occasions, reflect the abysmal distance that exists today between both teams and put the culés waiting for a rival who will emerge from the derby between Real Madrid and Atlético.
And it was difficult for Barça to get into the game. Whether it was due to the absence of Lamine Yamal, a substitute and on the bench until the final stretch of the match due to discomfort, the cold atmosphere typical of these matches in Saudi Arabia or the good initial work of Athletic, the culés were not too in tune in the early stages. It was of little use that Flick brought Frenkie de Jong and Pedri into the fray at the base to facilitate the construction of the game. The fact is that Ernesto Valverde sought to make his rival uncomfortable up front and even enjoyed two occasions in which Paredes and Sancet forgave, after separate shots that could have given a very different air to the clash.
It was more of a wish on the Txingurri board than a reality. Athletic no longer bites like last season and that idea of the game died as soon as Barça knew how to jump that first line of pressure. Immediately the lions were forced to give up meters and Flick’s team moved the ball from one side to the other waiting for spaces to appear. Raphinha, Bardghji and the Barça full-backs widened the pitch perfectly and the key was Fermín López’s position behind the midfielders that was going to be undetectable. The one from El Campillo forgave a one-on-one against Unai Simón and his shot in a semi-miss ended up in the small area, at the feet of Ferran Torres, so that the ‘7’ could punish an Athletic that at the first change had abandoned its plan half out of obligation and half due to lack of faith in the purpose.
From then on, Athletic was in a position of impossible resolution. Valverde’s team, who also did not have Nico Williams at the start due to physical discomfort, suffer from an alarming lack of goals and seeking to exchange blows or take control of the match was practically suicide. It was also difficult to wait in their own field and in that indecision, in deciding which option was the least bad, Barça passed them by. The ball was going at full speed from one side to the other, Athletic was late to all the duels and Raphinha, tireless in unmarking, gained the baseline to put a ball back that Fermín, at will, converted into Barça’s second goal.
Athletic was in body, but not in soul. The red and whites ran without faith, protested without hope and chased shadows. They had not digested the second goal and the third came immediately after a feint by Bardghji that Adama ate and which ended in a soft and centered shot that misled Unai Simón, who could have done much more to prevent the goal. It was a massacre. Valverde showed a nervous laugh and his team was decomposing in the hands of a Barça that was not needing to put into fifth gear to destroy its rival and that was still going to find the fourth goal before the break, after an unappealable whip from an unleashed Raphinha.
The little hand
After the restart the doubt was on the mood that Barça was going to have. The culés could give themselves a tribute or dose their efforts thinking about Sunday’s final and the demanding month of January. Flick opted for the former. His team came out to bite again and beat Athletic again. Bardghji and Koundé were a nightmare for Adama and Pedri was free to raise his head and look for the free man. Thus, the fifth was a matter of time and it came by crushing after a series of rejections that ended at the feet of Raphinha, very in tune all night.
It was the epilogue of a crash that killed him earlier than expected. With the little hand already achieved, Flick took advantage of the weak final stretch to give important players such as Balde, Frenkie de Jong, Raphinha and Pedri a rest. The game slowed down little by little due to the interest of both teams in taking their foot off the accelerator. Barça did not want to make more blood and is already waiting for a rival in the duel that will take place today between Real Madrid and Atlético.
