Athletic Club and the Spanish Super Cup

Athletic Club have qualified for the Spanish Super Cup seven times since the competition was officially founded in 1982.

It’s become a special tournament for Athleticzales. In addition to lifting the trophy three times, it has produced many memorable matches and moments

What's more, after FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, no other side has won the Supercopa as often as Athletic (we're joint third in the rankings with Deportivo La Coruña).

To get us in the mood for the 2026 edition in Jeddah, we’ve decided to take a look back at our 11 previous Supercopa fixtures.

 

1983

The Zurigorri participated in the 1983 Supercopa after winning 1981/82 LaLiga with Javier Clemente at the helm.

Only the second edition of the tournament, back then the participants were exclusively the winners of LaLiga and the Copa del Rey, with a home and away leg. On this occasion, Athletic’s opponents were Cesar Luis Menotti’s FC Barcelona side.

The Lions lost the first leg 1-3 at San Mames, with Manu Sarabia getting on the scoresheet. Endika scored a second-minute goal to gives us a glimmer of hope in Barcelona. Even though we went on to win 0-1, unfortunately it wasn’t quite enough.

 

1984

Javier Clemente’s Lions were automatically awarded the 1984 Supercopa as a result of winning a LaLiga and Copa double the season before. It wasn’t until 1995 that the competition grew to include runners-up.

*Photo of the 1984 squad with all three trophies: LaLiga, Copa and Supercopa

 

2009

After a 25-year wait, Athletic qualified for the 2009 Spanish Super Cup after finishing runners-up in the prior season’s Copa under Joaquín Caparrós.

The Bilbao side faced Pep Guardiola’s double-winning Barça side. San Mames hosted the first leg and Oscar de Marcos gave Los Leones the lead just before half-time, but Xavi and Pedro hit back in the second '45.
 

The Lions held their own until half-time in Catalunya, but eventually fell to a 3-0 defeat due to a Lionel Messi brace and a Bojan strike.
 

 

2015

One of the most iconic ties in recent Athletic history, the Zurigorri, led from the front by Aritz Aduriz, stunned FC Barcelona over two historic legs, a feat which also prevented Barça from achieving a 'sextuple' as they'd already won LaLiga, Copa del Rey, Champions League and UEFA Super Cup and went on to lift the and FIFA Club World Cup.

Mikel San José got the party started in Bilbao with an incredible 40-yard lob over. Star striker Aduriz followed that up with a second-half hat-trick to see the Lions head to Barcelona with a 4-0 aggregate lead.
 

Ernesto Valverde’s men got the job done at the Camp Nou. Messi scored in the 43rd minute to offer Luis Enrique’s team a glimmer of hope, but an unmarked Aduriz delivered the killer blow in the 74th minute as Athletic won their first piece of silverware since 1984.
 

 

2021

We won the competition again when we returned in 2021. Now a four-team format and supposed to be played in Saudi Arabia, that year’s edition took place in Spain due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Once again the Lions, this time led by Marcelino, produced a couple of sensational performances against Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. The only downside was that the COVID restrictions in place at the time prevented the players from celebrating their achievement with our fans.
 

The semi-final, only Marcelino’s second in the Athletic dugout, saw us beat Los Blancos 1-2 at La Rosaleda in Malaga. A Raúl García brace in the first half, which included a penalty, was enough to see Athletic go through despite a Karim Benzema strike in the 73rd minute.

The final was one for the ages as the Zurigorri and Barça played out a five-goal thriller at La Cartuja. Antoine Griezmann and De Marcos exchanged goals just before the break.

All seemed dead and done when Barça’s French forward scored again in the 77th minute, but Asier Villalibre had other ideas. The Buffalo got a foot to Iker Muniain’s stoppage-time free-kick to send the match into extra-time.

Three minutes after the restart Iñaki Williams sealed the victory with a rocket from the edge of the box.

Led by Villalibre’s trumpet, the Lions put together a unforgettable post-match celebration in honour of the thousands of Athleticzales watching from their homes.
 

 

2022

Athletic were back the following season and it was only slightly less dramatic than in 2021.

The Lions faced Atlético Madrid in a semi-final at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh. Athletic showed their mettle as they battled back from a goal down with less than 30 minutes to go. 

Diego Simeone’s side to the lead via an unfortunate Unai Simón own-goal as a Joao Felix header bounced off the post and went in after hitting the keeper’s back.

However, Marcelino’s team kept chipping away and Yeray equalised with a thumping header from a Muniain corner in the 77th minute. Moments later, Nico Williams pounced on a defensive clearance from a corner to put Athletic through to the final.
 

Los Leones looked to go toe-to-toe with Real Madrid in the final, but were left fighting an uphill battle after Luka Modric and Karim Benzema gave Los Blancos a 2-0 lead. 

Athletic went out with their heads held high and had chances to get back into the match, including a late Raúl García penalty that was stopped by Thibaut Courtois. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t their night.
 

 

2025

The historic 2023/24 Copa triumph meant Athletic headed back to Saudi Arabia last year. 

Gavi punished a slow start by the Lions when he netted in the 17th minute. Nonetheless, Athletic rallied and had chances to equalise before the break. Lamine Yamal made things even harder with a strike shortly after the restart. 

Athletic showed spirit and put Barça under lots of pressure, with De Marcos and Iñaki Williams even having goals narrowly ruled out for offside in the dying minutes.

They were missing that bit of luck needed to find a breakthrough as the match finished 0-2 to the Catalans.