TheCable

Athletic Bilbao won the Spanish Super Cup at the La Cartuja Stadium on Sunday night courtesy of a come-from-behind 3-2 extra-time victory over Barcelona who had Lionel Messi, their captain sent off for violent conduct.

It was Messi’s first-ever Barcelona red card and it came in his 753rd game for the club where he has broken almost every record available.

Athletic Bilbao, on the other hand, earned their third Super Cup title and their first since 2015 when they also defeated Barcelona.

Marcelino, Bilbao’s new manager who joined the club earlier this month, also recorded his second cup final win over Barcelona, following his 2019 triumph with Valencia in the Copa Del Rey final.

With two wins apiece in their past five meetings, both clubs delivered a pulsating match that required extra time to separate them with Bilbao punishing a tired Barcelona in extra time, courtesy of Inaki William’s wonder goal.

Antoine Griezmann opened the scoring in the 40th minute, pouncing on a loose ball that fell to him from Messi’s blocked shot to slot home from 10 yards out.

Bilbao restored parity two minutes later through Oscar de Marcos. The versatile midfielder ghosted between Barcelona’s defenders to bury Williams’ cross for a 1-1 scoreline at halftime.

The Basque side would have a goal chalked off for offside by the VAR that adjudged that Raul Garcia was inches offside as he met a free kick with a powerful header.

Griezmann restored Barcelona’s lead in the 77th minute when he again, coolly slotted home Jordi Alba’s cross for his sixth goal contribution in his last six matches.

A dramatic end to regulation time saw Asier Villalibre, who was introduced from the bench on the 73rd-minute, volleyed into the top corner from Iker Muniain’s deep free-kick to steal a last-minute equalizer and force an extra time.

Bilbao then punished their tired-looking but more illustrious opponent three minutes into extra time through the brilliant Williams. The striker collected Muniain’s pass and curled perfectly into the top corner from the edge of the box to make it 3-2 and hand Athletic the lead for the first time in the encounter.

Messi, who had a quiet evening for Barcelona, crowned the Catalans’ miserable night with a red card for violent conduct in the last minute of extra time.

The 33-year-old Argentine bundled a Bilbao player to the ground off the ball and was given the marching order following a VAR review.

Bilbao successfully saw out the remaining minutes to claim a rare title win.