Barcelona vs. Athletic Bilbao: Score, Reaction from 2015 Spanish Super Cup Leg 2

Athletic Bilbao were crowned 2015 Spanish Super Cup champions after earning a 1-1 draw against Barcelona in Monday evening's second-leg clash, triumphing 5-1 on aggregate.     

Lionel Messi scored just before the break to give his side a lifeline, but any hopes of a Barca turnaround were lost after Gerard Pique received a straight red card early in the second period. Barcastuff confirmed the centre-back will miss the start of the league campaign as a result:

"

Because of his red card, Pique will miss the first Liga game of the season next week #fcblive [via rac1]

— barcastuff (@barcastuff) August 17, 2015"

In case that dismissal didn't seal Barcelona's fate, Aritz Aduriz equalised with his fourth goal across the two legs to rubber-stamp Athletic's second Spanish Super Cup championship. They won the contest only once before in 1984.   

Monday's Camp Nou hosts started as the better team by all accounts as the Lions struggled to muster an attacking threat, but Athletic's job was made that much easier by virtue of their 4-0 victory in Friday's first leg.

The absences of Neymar and Jordi Alba were telling for Luis Enrique's men, as Bleacher Report's Rik Sharma asserted prior to kick-off that any chances of a comeback looked better with them in the squad:

Meanwhile, a muscle issue meant first-leg golazo scorer Mikel San Jose was absent from the Athletic lineup, but hat-trick hero Aduriz remained, hoping to advance his tally against last season's treble winners.

Four goals in 90 minutes always looked like a mountainous task for the Blaugrana, but if there were any team one would think capable of hounding down that deficit, Barca would probably be it.

From the beginning, though, it was clear Ernesto Valverde's side would be content with sitting further back and choosing to absorb the pressure regardless of how fearsome that onslaught may be.

Predictably so, Messi was the most erratic in attempting to fire Barcelona back into the fixture, with ESPN FC's Dermot Corrigan detailing just how adamant the Argentinian was to get forward early on:

Just as they had done at San Mames days prior, Athletic managed to hold firm. That was until a set-piece situation gave Luis Suarez the chance he needed to tee up Messi for Monday's opener, keeping Barca's hopes alive.

Despite the best efforts of Athletic goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz to keep Barcelona's weapons from approaching his net once again—the No. 1 literally wrestled the ball to the floor following that score—the hosts would return.

JOSEP LAGO/Getty Images

It would only count for so much, though, as Pique's sending-off in the 56th minute came to have a match-altering effect on the tie, denying Barcelona their chance at completing the surge.

After seeing a decision go against his side, the Spain international descended upon a linesman to vent his frustration with a verbal tirade and was swiftly given his marching orders. Goal's Ben Hayward sees far more encompassing concerns than the sending-off alone:

That handicap killed off any notion of a revival, and Aduriz would go on to rub further salt in the wound by netting in the 74th minute to deny Barca even one of the legs.

With Pique absent, Jeremy Mathieu and Javier Mascherano left Aduriz unmarked in front of stopper Claudio Bravo, who despite parrying his first attempt succumbed to the rebound:

The Super Cup defeat will only mean so much to a Barcelona side that has far greater prospects in sight this season, hoping to match the heights of last term's domestic and European treble.

For Athletic, though, a first Spanish Super Cup triumph in more than 30 years promises to have a galvanising effect on a team hoping to make their way back into La Liga's hierarchy.

Pique's suspension also created concern for Barca's league opener on Sunday, when Enrique's men face a trip to San Mames first up to face their Spanish Super Cup tormentors.

Post-Match Reaction

Manu Fernandez/Associated Press

A four-goal separation between the two sides on aggregate shows that about the only way to explain the Spanish Super Cup result is that Athletic ran rampant overall.

Rightly so, Enrique pointed to Pique's red card as the moment the game was effectively over, congratulating his opponents on their win and noting the importance of losing:

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Luis nrique: "Congrats to Athletic, they deserved to win the tie. My team did well, but the game ended at the moment at the red card."

— barcastuff (@barcastuff) August 17, 2015"

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Luis Enrique: "You need to know how to win and how to lose. Sometimes it's good to lose to realize how difficult and how nice it is to win."

— barcastuff (@barcastuff) August 17, 2015"

Midfielder Sergio Busquets took a more aggressive stance against Pique's dismissal, however, and asserted it should not have warranted a sending-off:

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Busquets: "We tried but it wasn't to be. After red card, impossible. Why red? Ref says for insults. Think there was no need to give a red."

— barcastuff (@barcastuff) August 17, 2015"

After lifting the first title in his Spanish coaching career, Athletic helmsman Valverde was understandably among the happiest figures in Catalonia on Monday evening.

But despite the elation of his landmark win, the 51-year-old couldn't help but dedicate the Spanish Super Cup triumph to his club's fans, per Spanish newspaper AS:

It was by no means an easy victory, but Athletic managed to pull off the underdog victory with apparent ease in the end, especially after Pique's dismissal left them with a major advantage.

Barcastuff quoted Valverde, who highlighted the first-half outing as a particular struggle for his men, but nevertheless one they would overcome:

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Valverde (coach Athletic): "They played a great first half, pushed us back while that wasn't the plan. " #fcblive

— barcastuff (@barcastuff) August 17, 2015"

Eager not to dwell on this defeat, humbled Barca midfielder Andres Iniesta is already eyeing his next trophy prospect, according to the club's official Twitter feed:

But first, both Spanish Super Cup participants will seek a bright start in La Liga as they prepare to clash for a third time in succession next Sunday.