Will Lamine Yamal be Barcelona’s Spanish Super Cup talisman against Athletic Bilbao?

On course to defend their Spanish Super Cup trophy, will Barcelona again turn to Lamine Yamal to fire them into Sunday’s final?

The defending champions are primed for action

Wednesday will see the defending champions of the competition take on three-time winners Athletic Bilbao in Jeddah at the King Abdullah Sports City stadium.

Incidentally, the sides met in last season’s semi-finals with Barcelona emerging as 2-0 winners. Goals either side of half-time from Gavi and Yamal were the difference that day.

However, manager Hansi Flick might not be able to call upon the former, who will miss the match with a knee injury, the Blaugrana still have Yamal at their disposal.

Lamine Yamal is already firing on all cylinders ahead of Spanish Super Cup showdown with Athletic

Yamal has evolved his wonderkid tag, and he is now considered one, if not the best, young player currently in world football. Remarkably, with a goal contribution on average in every match participated across the 2025/26 LaLiga campaign (G7, A8), Yamal has also been in sensational form in the Spanish Super Cup.

The Spaniard has found the back of the net three times across his previous four appearances in the competition, showcasing the sensational, unstoppable run of form he is on. Not forgetting about this season’s Champions League phase, Yamal has also added four attacking returns in five matches.

As mentioned, he has previous against Athletic, so it’s plain to see that the Lions’ full-backs, Andoni Gorosabel and Adama Boiro need to be at the top of their game.

Remarkably, Yamal is still only 18 years old, which is a seriously scary scenario considering he could be on  the horizon of adding yet another piece of silverware to his personal trophy cabinet.

Yamal could also be out to prove Raul wrong on Wednesday, with the Real Madrid Hall of Famer saying that he won’t be Spain’s main man at the World Cup this year.

Yamal can change the future, but not alter the past

However, even Yamal cannot argue with history, and Athletic will certainly take inspiration from beating Barcelona in the 2021 final, which was the Lions’ most recent overall success in the competition.

While Ernesto Valverde’s side has lifted the Spanish Super Cup on three occasions, Barcelona’s success across the competition’s history is unparalleled. Blaugrana’s supporters have seen their beloved club lift the trophy on no less than 15 occasions.

The next nearest winning side is Real Madrid’s 13, and next comes Athletic with their aforementioned three. However, they don’t only have to overcome that daunting statistic, but bring a conclusion to Barcelona’s eight-match winning streak across all competitions.

On the other boot, Valverde’s men’s form can be criticised after only one win across their previous five matches. Looking at the sides’ recent head-to-head history, Barcelona have won the last four matches and are unbeaten in five overall.

However, what falls in Athletic’s favour is that they triumphed in their previous three matches that featured extra time.

The bookmakers’ opinion on the mouthwatering encounter in Jeddah is that the Blaugrana are odds-on favourites to face either Atlético Madrid or Real Madrid in the final on Sunday.