Barcelona crush Athletic Club in the 2026 Spanish Super Cup semifinals with stellar Raphinha

That wraps out our live coverage of the first semifinal of the 2026 Spanish Super Cup, with FC Barcelona advancing to the final after a commanding 5-0 win over Athletic Club. See you next time!

Without minutes of extra time give, Barcelona secure their ticket to the Spanish Super Cup final after a crushing 5-0 win against Athletic Club.

After winning the ball back, Ferran Torres went one-on-one with Unai Simón, but defender Dani Vivian tracked back and made a crucial tackle to deflect the ball out for a corner.

Jauregizar collected a rebound at the edge of the box following a corner and unleashed a well-placed strike, but Joan García made an excellent diving save.

After a perfectly weighted through ball from Guruzeta, Unai Gómez found himself one-on-one with Joan García but sent his effort wide.

Roony Bardghji and Pedri leave the pitch for Lamine Yamal and Dani Olmo.

With Athletic Club sitting deep in their own half, Barcelona are controlling possession at nearly 80 percent in the second half.

Hansi Flick gives rotation to the team: Raphinha, Frenkie de Jong, and Alejandro Balde are replaced by Marcus Rashford, Marc Bernal, and Gerard Martin.

Valverde makes the last substitution for Athletic Bilbao: Selton Sanchez in, Alejandro Rego out.

With Adama Boiro appearing to struggle with a muscular issue, Valverde is forced to replace him with Iñigo Lekue.

Athletic Club head coach Ernesto Valverde makes the first substitutions of the match, bringing on Iñigo Ruiz de Galarreta, Unai Gómez, and Gorka Guruzeta for Iñaki Williams, Oihan Sancet, and Robert Navarro.

After a series of rebounds inside the box, Raphinha pounced on the loose ball and finished into an empty net to make it 5-0.

At the beginning of the second half, Barcelona had the most clear chance: a slow header from Ferran Torres which was easily captured by goalkeeper Unai Simon.

With Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao back on the field, referee Isidro Díaz de Mera Escuderos marks the beginning of the second half.

Barcelona head into halftime with a commanding 4-0 lead over Athletic Club in the Spanish Super Cup semifinal.

The first half, dominated entirely by Barcelona, will be extended until the 47th minute.

After an accurate cross from Berenguer, Oihan Sancet struck the post, missing the first goal for Athletic Bilbao.

Deflecting a cross from Bardghji, Vivian almost scores an own goal that got saved by keeper Simon.

After Roony Bardghji switched play to the left, Raphinha drove into the box and smashed a left-footed shot inside the near post to score Barcelona’s fourth.

After a brilliant individual move past Adama Boiro, Roony Bardghji unleashed a right-footed shot that slipped under Simón’s right arm to make it 3-0.

Dribbling down the left flank, Raphinha cut a perfect cross back to Fermín López, who arrived in the box and struck the ball cleanly past Unai Simón.

After opening the scoring, Barcelona extended their dominance, leaving Athletic Club pinned in their own half.

Ferran Torres pounced on a mis-hit effort from Fermín López inside the box and, despite a less-than-perfect volley, scored the opening goal for Barcelona.

With a clever pivot, Ferran Torres played a one-touch pass into space for Fermín López, but Unai Simón came out on top in the one-on-one.

After a shaky opening, Barcelona have taken control of possession, with Athletic sitting deep in their own half.

From the right flank, Bardghji delivered a perfectly weighted cross to Pedri, whose shot was saved by Unai Simón.

Receiving the ball on the edge of the box, Sancet unleashed a shot, easy for Joan Garcia to save.

After bringing down a long ball from Balde, Raphinha dribbled past Unai Simón and delivered a cross into the box that Bardghji missed by inches.

In the first minute of the game, Athletic Club collected three back-to-back corner kicks, pressing Barcelona high on the pitch.

Referee Isidro Díaz de Mera Escuderos blows his whistle, and the first Spanish Super Cup semifinal between FC Barcelona and Athletic Club is underway!

Moving the Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia has led to a significant increase in the prize money distributed among the participating clubs. Approximately €19.5 million was shared between Barcelona, Real Madrid, Athletic Club, and RCD Mallorca in the 2025 edition, a figure that'll rise again in 2026.

While Barcelona and Real Madrid receive higher guaranteed payouts due to greater broadcast revenue compared to Athletic Club and Atlético Madrid, the winner of the 2026 Spanish Super Cup could earn between €10 million and €11 million, a substantial boost at this stage of the season.

FC Barcelona and Athletic Club are two of the most traditional clubs in Spain, both widely recognized for their strong commitment to youth development. However, when it comes to head-to-head meetings, there is a clear edge for one side.

Barcelona and the Bilbao-based club have faced each other 245 times across all competitions. Of those matches, 125 have ended in wins for Barcelona, 80 have gone in favor of Athletic Club, and 40 have finished as draws.

With both starting lineups unveiled, attention quickly turned to FC Barcelona, where stars Lamine Yamal and Robert Lewandowski were named among the substitutes.

After missing Tuesday’s training session due to a stomach virus, Yamal was left on the bench by head coach Hansi Flick, who instead handed the start to Roony Bardghji. As for Lewandowski, the Polish striker is not dealing with any injury, making the decision purely tactical, with Ferran Torres preferred in the starting XI.

The match between FC Barcelona and Athletic Club will be played at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The venue, which has a capacity of 62,345, is home to Al Ittihad and Al Ahli and will also host the other semifinal as well as the final on Sunday, January 11.

The Spanish Super Cup was originally a single-match contest between the winners of La Liga and the Copa del Rey, but the format has since evolved into a four-team tournament. In terms of the venue, former RFEF president Luis Rubiales reached a lucrative agreement in 2019 for Saudi Arabia to host the competition for six years in exchange for €240 million.

That deal was later extended in 2021, securing Saudi Arabia as the host nation for the Spanish Super Cup through 2029.

German coach Hansi Flick revealed the starting XI that will push for a place in the Spanish Super Cup final against Athletic Club (4-3-3): Joan García; Jules Koundé, Eric García, Pau Cubarsí, Alejandro Balde; Pedri, Frenkie de Jong, Fermín Lopez; Roony Bardghji, Ferran Torres, Raphinha.

Head coach Ernesto Valverde has picked the eleven players that will look for a win against Barcelona from the start of the game (4-2-3-1): Unai Simón; Jesus Areso, Daniel Vivian, Aitor Paredes, Adama Boiro; Mikel Jaureguizar, Alejandro Rego; Alex Berenguer, Oihan Sancet, Robert Navarro; Iñaki Williams.

24 hours before the beginning of the Spanish Super Cup, FC Barcelona released a statement that Marc-Andre ter Stegen would be returning to Spain to undergo medical tests, with no details about an injury being revealed.

Even though head coach Hansi Flick revealed that Joan Garcia was going to be the starting goalkeeper against Athletic Club, the German suffering another injury setback means that Barcelona will be losing one of the captains of the team.

FC Barcelona and Athletic Club will be facing each other at 2:00 PM (ET).

You can watch the Spanish Super Cup live on Fubo, DirecTV Stream, Sling, ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes.

Welcome to our live blog for the match between FC Barcelona and Athletic Club for the first semifinal of the 2026 Spanish Super Cup. Stay tuned for key updates and live minute-by-minute coverage!