Hansi Flick chuffed as Barcelona surge past Athletic to earn Super Cup final spot

The semi-final, staged in Saudi Arabia, was effectively settled by half-time as Barcelona scored four goals in a devastating 16-minute spell.

The performance marked a historic moment, with the Catalan side becoming the first team to score four first-half goals in a Spanish Super Cup semi-final. Already 15-time winners of the trophy, Barcelona showed their experience and attacking depth throughout the contest.

Ferran Torres opened the scoring in the 22nd minute, finishing from close range to set the tone. Fermin Lopez quickly followed with a superb strike into the top corner, before teenage winger Roony Bardghji added a third with a powerful effort, a goal for which Athletic Club goalkeeper Unai Simon was deemed at fault.

Raphinha then capped the first-half onslaught by firing into the roof of the net, giving Barcelona an unassailable 4-0 lead after just 38 minutes.

The Brazilian international struck again early in the second half, making it 5-0 just four minutes after the restart.

Unai Simon was left helpless as Raphinha completed his brace, after which Barcelona comfortably controlled the match and saw out the result without difficulty.

Coached by Hansi Flick, Barcelona extended their winning streak to nine matches in all competitions with the emphatic victory. They will now face either Atletico Madrid or Real Madrid in Sunday's final in Jeddah, with the two rivals scheduled to meet on Thursday.

"For me always, my thought is the next game. But I appreciate what we did today because against Espanyol we hadn't been good. I like that we play as a team, together," said Flick.

"It's fantastic to win 5-0. But it's only one game and the final will be different. Today we managed to be in control. We needed a few minutes to start working, then we played well.

"I'm happy because we controlled the game well. We kept the ball and I like that we defended until the end to keep a clean sheet."