Barcelona scraped into Sunday’s Supercopa de Espana final against Real Madrid with a less than vintage 2-0 semi-final victory over Osasuna in Saudi Arabia.
This was far from a classic as Xavi’s team again struggled to put a game to bed, despite dominating.
Robert Lewandowski scored the critical first goal just shy of an hour in, before Lamine Yamal made sure at the end and provided Barca their first two-goal margin of victory since September. But it is clear the Catalans will have to be much better against Madrid if they want to retain the trophy.
How the game unfolded
Where Wednesday night’s semi-final between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid was littered with goals, four of which were in the first half alone, this was a much slower and more turgid affair.
There were attempts from Barcelona during the opening 45, but nothing particularly special and Osasuna, who arrived in Saudi Arabia in search of their first ever trophy, actually looked more likely to find a breakthrough by the time the half-time whistle sounded
It took until the 38th minute for a first clear sight of goal, the work of good work down Osasuna’s right flank found striker Ante Budimir in the middle – his touch cleverly (or accidentally) nutmegged Ronald Araujo, but Inaki Pena reacted quickly to block the shot.
Aimar Oroz also forced Pena into a save, parrying away to his right, although Barca did at least pick up a little when Yamal replaced the injured Raphinha in the closing stages of the half.
The Catalans were lacking any kind of sharp edge and that initially continued after the interval. It was increasingly clear that it was going to require a moment of individual quality to get them going and that eventually came from Ilkay Gundogan, picking out Lewandowski’s smart run and watching the Polish striker convert a low shot into the bottom corner of the net.
Barca still lacked real oomph as the half progressed but were only denied a second when Jesus Areso did just enough to get in front of Lewandowski as he was coming onto Jules Kounde’s cutback.
Rather like the firsthalf an hour earlier, the eventual second goal in the third minute of stoppage time was the product of individual skill making it possible as Joao Felix danced in-field, including a nutmeg, and found Yamal for a composed finish into the far bottom corner.
Barcelona player ratings (4-3-3)
GK: Inaki Pena - 6/10 - Not the convincing at times, but pulled off the saves required.
RB: Jules Kounde - 7/10 - Made chances when he drove forward up the flank.
CB: Ronald Araujo - 7/10 - Some important defensive interventions.
CB: Andreas Christensen - 6/10 - Several half chances fell his way in the attacking box.
LB: Alejandro Balde - 5/10 - Too passive in his performance, unusually so.
CM: Sergi Roberto (c) - 5/10 - Lacked influence during his hour on the pitch.
CM: Ilkay Gundogan - 7/10 - Had the skill and vision to make a difference even when many of his teammates were way short of their best.
CM: Frenkie de Jong - 7/10 - Hardly misplaced a pass and became more incisive later on.
RW: Raphinha - 5/10 - Withdrawn very suddenly after what seemed a very innocuous challenge shortly before half-time. Things hadn't quite clicked for him before that.
ST: Robert Lewandowski - 6/10 - The Pole's build up play was not good enough for an hour. But when he finally got a chance, he made no mistake it snapping it up.
LW: Ferran Torres - 5/10 - Lasted an hour until he was replaced after minimal impact.
Substitutes
SUB: Lamine Yamal (42' for Raphinha) - 7/10
SUB: Pedri (61' for Roberto) - 6/10
SUB: Joao Felix (61' for Torres) - 7/10
Subs not used: Kochen (GK), Astralaga (GK), Fort, Romeu, Casado, Lopez, Roque
Manager
Xavi - 6/10 - Resisted making all but an enforced change until after his lacklustre team had gone ahead. Not exactly proactive, but maybe he hoped patience would be a virtue.
