Real Madrid 1-2 Athletic Bilbao (Benzema 73; García 18, 38pen)Basque side will face
Barcelona in Sunday’s final in SevilleThe Spanish
Football federation did their bit to ensure a clásico final for the Super Cup;
Real Madrid, on the other hand, did not. Athletic Bilbao forced a change of plans, dancing around in a circle and singing at the end of a long, tense night in which they took Madrid’s place in Sunday’s final against Barcelona with a 2-1 victory.
And, yes, “Madrid’s place” is the right phrase. The “draw” for the semi-final had been managed to keep Madrid and Barcelona apart until a game that was set up to be the RFEF’s showpiece event, even if it is to be played in an empty stadium in Andalucía rather than Saudia Arabia as planned. Sometimes football refuses to be told what to do – which is precisely what makes it so good.