Preview of the Supercopa Semifinal: Athletic Club vs Barcelona

The first semifinal of the Supercopa de España in Saudi Arabia will take place this Wednesday in Jeddah, featuring Athletic Club and FC Barcelona. If both coaches adhere to their regular line-ups, the goalkeeping duties will fall to Unai Simón and Joan García. Simón, the Spanish national team goalkeeper, has played every match this season for Athletic, with the exception of the Copa del Rey match against Ourense. Meanwhile, García, who is currently outside the national squad, has recently recovered from a meniscus injury that required surgery and is now performing confidently.

This Supercopa clash follows a league match where both teams experienced contrasting outcomes: Simón conceded a long-range free-kick goal from Rubén García, a situation Valverde attributed to an unusual ball trajectory, overshadowing two impressive saves he made earlier in the game. In contrast, Joan García was instrumental in Barcelona’s victory over Espanyol, making crucial saves until his team scored late in the match.

Unai Simón (28 years old) is in his eighth season with the Athletic first team and has been a regular starter for the Spanish national team since Luis Enrique was in charge. “I have great affection for Unai; I faced criticism when I made him a starter. He deserves it—he is an exceptional player and a remarkable talent. We took a risk with him, and he could play for any team in the world,” remarked the PSG coach during his visit to San Mamés last December for a Champions League match against Athletic.

Joan García (24 years old) joined Barcelona this season from Espanyol and is showing impressive growth, though he has yet to break into the national team. It is unlikely he will start for Spain before the World Cup. National coach De la Fuente, familiar with both players from youth categories, has opted to keep Simón as the primary goalkeeper since taking over. Under Simón, the national team has won the European Championship and the Nations League, and they aim to secure a second World Cup for Spain, with only a major setback likely to prevent him from starting in the upcoming tournament.

The match at KASC Stadium will mark the second encounter between Athletic and Barcelona this season, providing another opportunity to see the current national team goalkeeper face off against a potential future teammate. In their first meeting on November 22, in La Liga, Lewandowski, Ferran (2), and Fermín exploited opportunities against Athletic, with Simón in goal.