Surprise in Seville. After Real Madrid in the semifinals, Athletic Bilbao got rid of FC Barcelona after extra time in the final and won the Spanish Supercup 2021 in Seville (2-3, ap).
This time with Messi in his eleven, Barça were fighting to win their first title with Koeman, against a fit Basques who had just eliminated the reigning champion. But nothing went as planned for the Catalans.
This beautiful final was difficult to get started. A very closed start to the match between two teams that delayed before giving us the first chills.
But it was Antoine Griezmann who unblocked the meeting. After 40 minutes of play, Jordi Alba serves Leo Messi in the box. The Argentinian takes over but his shot is deflected. Antoine Griezmann, who followed the action, strikes in turn and this time sends the ball into the net (40th, 1-0).
The joy is short-lived for the Blaugrana. Two minutes later, De Marcos slipped into the box after a magnificent opening by Iñaki Williams, and deceived Ter Stegen. The two teams were tied again before returning to the locker room.
After the break, Leo Messi is the first to worry Bilbao with a free kick that goes just above (53rd). But the Basques do not let go and think to regain the advantage, on free kick too. Taken by Muniain, the free kick found the header of Raúl García, who sent the ball into the net. But Raúl García’s goal was canceled by VAR for an offside position (58th).
For the second time of the evening, it is finally Antoine Griezmann who believes to deliver the Blaugrana. Ousmane Dembélé finds Jordi Alba, who crosses ground for Griezmann. The Frenchman is at the near post and triggers a cross strike which deceives Unai Simon (77th, 2-1).
Barça contain Bilbao’s attempts well, and are even close to killing the game after a counterattack led by Dembélé. But once again, Bilbao did not give up and managed to equalize, a few seconds before the end of regulation time. On a new free kick from Muniain, Villalibre throws himself to conclude in front of Ter Stegen, and win extra time (2-2, 90th).
It was only a few minutes after the start of extra time that Iñaki Williams blew the Basque bench with joy. With a magnificent roll that ends right in the top corner of Ter Stegen, the striker allows Bilbao to take the advantage, and take a huge step towards the title (94th, 2-3).
Barça can not do it any more and cannot catch up with the Basques, who are heading straight for the title. Ronald Koeman’s men end on a very bad note and see Leo Messi lose his calm against Villalibre. After revision of the VAR, the Argentine captain takes his first red card under the colors of Barça and leaves his for the last seconds of the match.
After Real Madrid, it is therefore FC Barcelona that Athletic Bilbao gets rid of, to win the third Spanish Supercup in its history (1984, 2015 and 2021). The ‘Leones’ win their first title since 2015, while waiting to play in the Copa del Rey 2020 final against Real Sociedad, next April