Iñaki Williams delivers Supercopa de España glory for Bilbao!
WHILE, for many, the Supercopa de España may look and feel like a money-inflated and glorified Community Shield game that English football disposes of before the real business gets under way, it can mean so much to others. When Iñaki Williams curled that delicious shot past a helpless Marc-André ter Stegen in the Barcelona goal to give Athletic Club an extra time lead, and ultimately the trophy, the oftcriticised mini-tournament became big news in Bilbao.
The club, that for many of its supporters is the sporting embodiment of Basque identity, lifted the trophy for the third time in their history, having secured it in 1984 and 2015. On the earlier occasion, it came as an automatic reward after Athletic completed the LaLiga and Copa del Rey double. With another Copa del Rey Final to be played – postponed from last season – fans of Los Leones will be hoping that this triumph augers well for the game against neighbours Real Sociedad, now due to be played on 4 April, with this season’s final scheduled for ten day later. In the meantime, they’ll be happy to celebrate a success that came despite being the lowest ranked of the four teams competing for the trophy.
The Basques overcame Real Madrid in their semi-final with a 2-1 victory that, for most of the game, looked far more comfortable than the scores suggest. It was one of those games that must frustrate Zidane, when his team seemed unable to string much
cohesive play together, and Athletic took full advantage. Only late on, following a Benzema goal with a dozen minutes left to play, did the champions give Marcelino’s team much to worry about. Despite an occasional wobble though, his team came through to take the place in the final. The new man in charge at the San Mamés is off to a flying start, but in order to keep the good times flowing in Bilbao, he’ll need to transfer some of this form to the bread-and-butter business of league points.
In the other Supercopa de España semi-final, Barcelona came through against La Real after a penalty shootout. Frenkie de Jong had put the Catalans ahead before the break, but the Dutch midfielder then conceded a penalty ten minutes into the second period, efficiently converted by Oyarzabal. The efficiency displayed in the 12-yard lottery was far less impressive and after La Real missed their first three attempts it looked all over. A Griezmann miss gave them a chance again, but it was young Riqui Puig who delivered the killer penalty. The 21-year-old wasn’t even born when Barça last triumphed in a penalty shootout. It was back in 1998 and Michael Reiziger scored the winner in a Copa del Rey game against Real Mallorca.
The win, no matter how achieved, would have been a massive relief for Ronald Koeman. At the same stage last season, with Barcelona sitting on top of the league table, the club were eliminated and soon afterwards Ernesto Valverde was dismissed from his post, with a ‘lack of playing style’ cited as one of the reasons. The coach had delivered successive titles in the previous seasons and, despite a few poor performances was still leading the way when he was removed. Since that decision, Barcelona have not only won nothing, but the club have deteriorated on the pitch, changed managers again, endured player dispute and suffered upheavals in the boardroom.
The final itself, was of little comfort to Koeman though. When Griezmann struck in the last quarter hour of the game, there was much rejoicing on the Barcelona bench. The win looked secure and the France forward had that rarest of successes – a goal. A late equaliser by substitute Asier Villalibre however forced extra-time and led to that Williams stunner. Even worse for the Cules was the red card handed to Messi for a frustrated cuff around the ear on the same Athletic player as time drifted away. The offence is likely to be considered as violent behaviour and, if so, will probably bring a four-game ban for the Argentine. Whilst the break will allow more time for Messi’s troublesome hamstring injury to fully recover, who can say what it will cost the club in terms of LaLiga points. The Blaugrana were just beginning to hint at a recovery in the league, but that may well be stymied now.
It’s unlikely that Koeman will be shown the door. Well, not at the moment anyway, but others in LaLiga haven’t been so lucky. Gaizka Garitano would have taken plenty of pride from Athletic’s success, but the coach missed the chance to share in the club’s glory when he was dismissed. Michel was moved on by
Huesca with the club anchored to the foot of the table, and Pablo Machin was removed from his post at Alavés. In a quirk of fate, Abelardo returned to Alavés, replacing Machin for the second time in two seasons. Last year, succeeded he did so at Espanyol. During his first spell with Alavés, Abelardo returned a win percentage of better than 40%. The club would be delighted if their returning prodigal son could repeat that feat.
Going nowhere, and understandably so, is Kike García. Eibar have agreed a new deal with the coach, securing his services until at least 2023. García has performed minor miracles with the little Basque club and surely no one would doubt that he fully deserves the new deal.
In other cup news, the Copa del Rey continues to take its toll on Spain’s top tier clubs. On Saturday, Almeria delivered a comprehensive 5-0 beating to Alavés, Girona overcame Cádiz 2-0 and Rayo Vallecano eliminated struggling Elche and, the following day, Navalcarnero beat Eibar 3-1.
With the truncated Matchday to be completed midweek and then the games in Matchday 20 over the coming weekend, there’ll be plenty to talk about next week. Can Athletic Club transfer their form into league points? Are Real Madrid experiencing a problem or merely a blip? How will Barcelona fare without Messi? Will Atlético Madrid keep on course at the top? Put your feet up, enjoy the games and we’ll meet again next week to talk all things La Liga again. Hasta luego!