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Bilbao win Spanish Super Cup

BARCELONA — Athletic Bilbao ended a 31-year trophy drought with a 1-1 draw at Barcelona yesterday, claiming the Spanish Super Cup with a 5-1 aggregate victory over the reigning European champions.

Athletic Bilbao celebrate their 5-1 aggregate victory. Photo: Reuters

Athletic Bilbao celebrate their 5-1 aggregate victory. Photo: Reuters

BARCELONA — Athletic Bilbao ended a 31-year trophy drought with a 1-1 draw at Barcelona yesterday, claiming the Spanish Super Cup with a 5-1 aggregate victory over the reigning European champions.

After Bilbao’s stunning 4-0 win in Friday’s first leg, Barcelona threatened a comeback when Lionel Messi put the hosts ahead a minute before half-time. But their hopes of an improbable turnaround diminished when Gerard Pique earned a rash red card for screaming in the face of a line judge in the 56th minute.

That helped Bilbao withstand the onslaught before Aritz Aduriz netted the equaliser in the 74th, adding to the striker’s hat trick on Friday. Bilbao also finished with 10 men after Enrique “Kike” Sola was sent off in the 86th for a challenge on Javier Mascherano.

Bilbao won their last title in 1984, when they beat Barcelona 1-0 in the Copa del Rey final to complete a double of Cup and league trophies. The Super Cup traditionally pits last season’s league winners against the Cup champion, but since Barcelona won both, Bilbao played courtesy of their runners-up finish in the Copa del Rey.

“We have been waiting for this for a long time,” said Bilbao coach Ernesto Valverde. “Generations of players have passed through Athletic since those league and Cup titles of the 1980s. We knew it would arrive.”

The result means Barcelona cannot match the six titles they won in a single calendar year under “Pep” Guardiola in 2009. Last week, Barcelona won the UEFA Super Cup after completing a rare treble of the Champions League, Spanish League and Copa del Rey last season, and will play in the Club World Cup in December.

After losing to Barcelona’s collection of international stars in three Copa del Rey finals since 2009, the win is quite an achievement for a club that fields only homegrown players from the northern Basque Country or neighbouring territories. AP

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