Mission accomplished. Barça is in the Super Cup final after having done their homework. Athletic is picky at a court but harmless on the field.
Laporta celebrated his victory over LaLiga and the Federation in a big way with the precautionary measure granted by the CSD. He also celebrated his success against Athletic, one of the clubs most interested in harming Barça with Dani Olmo.
The Defeated President Talks about "Farce"
That "take that!" from Laporta is explicit enough about the level of tension experienced by the blaugrana management in recent days. It had to come out from somewhere.
The one who took it terribly was his colleague from Athletic. Jon Uriarte assessed the precautionary measure for Olmo and Víctor Pau as follows:
-"It's a provisional measure taken by a political body. Now LaLiga and the Federation will have to defend the decision they made with their own arguments."
-"We've been eight days into the new year and we're experiencing something that's amazing. Clubs are asked to make an effort to grow, to make our competitions bigger."
-"Make efforts like coming here to a country far from our fans to play these matches. However, we then experience situations like this that are a farce. Such a situation can't happen because it's very bad for Spanish soccer."
Athletic wanted to unregister Dani Olmo and Pau Víctor but Barça took care of unregistering them from the Super Cup. 2-0 and back home. This Athletic seems more competent at a trial than on the field.
Gavi and Lamine Yamal Dismantle Athletic
Gavi and Lamine Yamal scored the two goals of the game in the 17th and 52nd minute respectively. Barça, without stepping on the gas and at half throttle, got rid of a predictable and disappointing Athletic.
In Jeddah, it became clear that Valverde's team loses a lot of strength without the support of San Mamés's roars. The Arab public sided with Barça, especially with Lamine Yamal, and the Basques fell, offering very little resistance.
It's not that Barça had many chances, but they took advantage of the two clearest ones. The first one, with Gavi finishing a team attack. The second one, brilliantly executed by Lamine Yamal finishing a blaugrana counterattack.
Wojciech Szczęsny played his second consecutive match after debuting in Barbastro, during the Cup. He left a good impression. The gala team presented by Flick showed signs of recovery after the disappointments of recent matches.
They Reserved Themselves for the Final against Real Madrid (if They Beat Mallorca)
Pedri once again stood out directing the play in the midfield and leading Barça, well supported by Casadó and Gavi. Up front, Lamine excelled, but sporadically, while Lewandowski and Raphinha did worse.
Were they reserving themselves for the final with Real Madrid? Probably. Even Flick caught that feeling with the substitutions. In the end, the Basques could have given a scare with a goal that was finally disallowed by VAR. It was due to a foul on Frenkie De Jong.
Barça eliminates Athletic and gets into the Super Cup final, where they will probably face Real Madrid. Two years ago, Barça overwhelmed the whites. Last year, the merengues triumphed.
We'll see. The king of the Spanish Super Cup has already done its homework and awaits an opponent for the final.
Technical Sheet
FC Barcelona, 2 - Athletic De Bilbao, 0
Athletic Club: Unai Simón; Lekue (De Marcos, min.63), Vivian, Paredes, Yuri; Prados (Vesga, min.63), Jauregizar; Iñaki Williams, Unai Gómez (Djaló, min.80), Berenguer (Serrano, min.73); and Guruzeta (Nico Williams, min.63).
FC Barcelona: Szczęsny; Koundé, Cubarsí, Martínez, Balde (Martín, min.83); Casadó (Eric García, min.83), Pedri; Lamine Yamal (Fermín, min.63), Gavi (De Jong, min.73), Raphinha; and Lewandowski (Ferran Torres, min 73)
Goals: 0-1, min.17: Gavi. 0-2, min.53: Lamine Yamal.
Referee: Ortiz Arias (C. Madrileño). Yellow card to Berenguer (min.50), Unai Gómez (min.76), and Koundé (min.76).