Bilbao gatecrash Super Cup
MADRID: Lionel Messi is expected to return for tomorrow’s Spanish Super Cup final against Athletic Bilbao, who defeated Real Madrid to set up a second meeting between the clubs in as many weeks following Barcelona’s 3-2 victory in La Liga on Jan 6.
On Thursday, Raul Garcia scored twice in the first half, the second a penalty, and while Karim Benzema pulled one back for Madrid, Bilbao held on to complete a statement win under their new coach Marcelino Garcia Toral.
As Atletico Madrid threaten to streak clear in the league, Barca face a daunting task in reviving their title hopes but are improving under Ronald Koeman, unbeaten in nine games and with a trophy in their grasp.
This is the second year of the competition’s new format, which has four teams playing each other in a semifinal and final.
Last season’s version, won by Real, controversially took place in Saudi Arabia, but the pandemic means this year’s semis were in Cordoba and Malaga, with the final to be played in Seville.
CREAKING BAYERN
Following a dream first season at the helm, Bayern Munich coach Hansi Flick is finally going through a testing patch in Bavaria after back-to-back failures.
Bayern threw away a two-goal lead in a 3-2 loss at Borussia Moenchengladbach last week, the latest in a line of worrying defensive displays, and then crashed out of the German Cup to second-tier Holstein Kiel on penalties.
Their second-round exit represented Bayern’s earliest in the competition for 20 years, and squashed aspirations of repeating last season’s remarkable treble.
While they remain two points clear at the top of the Bundesliga, Bayern could again be exposed tomorrow by a Freiburg side on a five-match winning run and brimming with confidence.
FIXTURES
(kick-offs Thai time) Spanish Super Cup final
Tomorrow
Barcelona v Bilbao (3am, Mon)
Bundesliga Today
Dortmund v Mainz, Hoffenheim v Bielefeld, Wolfsburg v Leipzig, Cologne v Hertha Berlin, Bremen v Augsburg (all 9.30pm), Stuttgart v Gladbach (00.30am, Sun) Tomorrow Bayern Munich v Freiburg (9.30pm), Frankfurt v Schalke (midnight)
Serie A Today
Bologna v Verona (9pm), Torino v Spezia (midnight),
Sampdoria v Udinese (2.45am, Sun)
Tomorrow
Napoli v Fiorentina (6.30pm), Crotone v Benevento, Sassuolo v Parma (both 9pm), Atalanta v Genoa (midnight), Inter Milan v Juventus (2.45am, Mon)
Monday
Cagliari v AC Milan (2.45am, Tue)