Gavi and Lamine Yamal guided Barcelona to the Supercopa de Espana final as Hansi Flick’s side beat Athletic Club 2-0 in the semi-final clash in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. The 20-year-old midfielder scored one and set up the other for his fellow academy graduate to spare the blushes of misfiring Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha.
The Catalan side caused some early trouble for their Basque opponents and should have taken the lead when Raphinha met a deadly Jules Kounde cross, but his acrobatic finish sent it flying over the bar.
The Brazilian had a key role in providing the opening goal, though, as he won the ball and started the move that ended with Gavi rushing in to meet a low cross from Alejandro Balde and firing into the net.
Athletic Club managed to find their way through Barca’s sturdy defence on occasion, but the quick reactions of Wojciech Szczesny kept them out while Raphinha and Yamal missed chances at the other end.
The 17-year-old sparked into life early in the second period when he brought down a pass from Gavi and went through against Unai Simon, slotting it past the goalkeeper to double his team’s lead on his return from injury.
Ernesto Valverde’s men twice thought they had pulled a goal back but they were both ruled out for offside, ensuring Flick’s team go on to face either Real Madrid or Mallorca in the final, with the second semi-final tie to be played on Thursday.
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