Raphinha caps off a magical first half for Barça against Athletic with a colossal golazo

FC Barcelona completed a perfect first half against Athletic Club in the semifinal of the Spanish Super Cup. Hansi Flick's team, without Lamine Yamal in the XI, wiped Ernesto Valverde's team off the pitch at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, who offered little resistance in the opening minutes against a rampant Barcelona side in attack.

Raphinha, with a colossal goal in the 38th minute, sealed the partial 4-0 for a Barça that scored its first goal in the 22nd minute, with an assist from Fermín López to Ferran Torres, whose shot was poorly finished by 'El Tiburón'. The Brazilian also assisted the player from Huelva in the 30th minute to make it 2-0, while Roony Bardghji scored the third just two minutes later

The Swede, in the 38th minute, threaded a pass down the left that Rapha took advantage of to break away and set himself up for his left foot. With a tight angle, the '11' unleashed a powerful cross-shot that beat Unai Simón. The Spanish goalkeeper, currently in the midst of debate over the starting spot for Spain's World Cup squad, experienced another dark night against the Catalans, following the 4-0 loss last November at Camp Nou

Raphinha reaches 8 goals and 4 assists in 25/26

For Raphinha, his spectacular goal against Athletic was his eighth of the season in 16 games in which he also provided 4 assists. Despite missing a couple of months due to injury, the Porto Alegre native is gradually regaining his best form.

It's no wonder he has 3 goals and 1 assist in his last 4 matches with Hansi Flick's team. The Blaugrana team went into halftime with the match decided after displaying all their offensive power. 8 shots, 7 of them on target, were enough to eliminate a totally outmatched Athletic in Jeddah.

Historic 'bath' for Barça against Athletic in the Super Cup

Barça, with their four goals before halftime on Wednesday, became the only team to achieve this feat in two Super Cup matches. The first time a team scored the same number of goals in one half of a tournament match was in the final of the previous edition, when Flick's team crushed Real Madrid in the first half (4-1).

That day, Lamine Yamal, Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, and Alejandro Balde settled a match where the 'merengues' started winning with a goal from Kylian Mbappé. Now, the 'culés' await Madrid or Atlético in the final next Sunday, January 12, where the Catalan team will defend its crown in search of its sixteenth Supercopa