Barcelona hit the ground running in the Spanish Super Cup as they thrashed Athletic Club 5-0 in the semi-final played in Jeddah.
The Catalans extended their winning run to nine matches, easing into the title match which takes place on Sunday.
Ferran Torres, Fermin Lopez, Roony Bardghji and Raphinha all scored in the space of a blistering 16-minute spell midway through the first half to put Barca in total control.
Barcelona thus became the first team in history to score four first-half goals in a Super Cup semi-final.
Raphinha capped a stellar performance with another goal early in the second half as Hansi Flick’s side dominated the match.
Barcelona were ahead in the 22nd minute through Torres. He took an awkward pass that appeared to be a shot gone wrong from Fermin, and his fine first touch allowed him to fire into the back of the net from seven yards.
It was 2-0 on the half-hour mark when Raphinha reached the by-line and his low cross to the middle of the penalty box was brilliantly turned into the net by Fermin.
Fermin then made it a hat-trick of goal contributions when he turned provider again for Bardghji on 34 minutes, though it was a simple pass into the latter, who fired low into the net.
Barcelona added a fourth through Raphinha when he burst into the box and blasted into the roof of the net.
The Brazilian netted his second on 52 minutes as Bilbao failed to clear a ball into the penalty area, and Raphinha fired home a left-footed shot.
Barcelona are looking to defend the Super Cup title they won last season, extending their record number of victories in the competition to 15. The final will be played on Sunday in Jeddah.
Coach Flick was understandably delighted with the result. “I’m very happy with the work we’ve done” he said. “We played with a very good mentality and a great attitude, and I really liked the Barca I saw.”
Flick was also impressed with the levels of concentration throughout the game.
“We were very connected and fully in the game for the full 90 minutes. We played well and in an enjoyable way. We played with confidence and managed the game well. It’s very good to see because it gives us a lot of confidence, although this was the semi-final, and the final will be a different chapter.”
The icing on the cake was the fact that Barcelona managed to keep a clean sheet as well.
“We’ve kept another clean sheet, which is very good. We produced a great team performance, and that’s the most important thing, both in attack and in defence.”
