Barcelona closes the 24/25 season with a new victory, this time against Athletic at San Mamés. Flick's team closes the League with 88 points and 102 goals, figures that certify their well-deserved championship. Meanwhile, Ernesto Valverde's team had nothing at stake; they had done their homework earlier: qualification for the Champions League and the Spanish Super Cup.
Lewandowski's double
The match began with a proactive Athletic, who took the lead on the scoreboard, but the linesman disallowed it because Berenguer received the ball offside. From there, Barça took control of the ball and linked several plays without much danger to Unai Simón's goal. Fermín was the first to glimpse a crack in the Basque defense, threading a measured pass to Lewandowski who, with a chip, made it 0-1.
A few minutes later, Raphinha delivered a good cross to the near post; Unai Gómez cleared it backward and the ball fell to the "9" culé, who only had to push it in.Maroan Sannadi, Valverde's starting forward, had the 1-2 at his feet, but his shot went far from Iñaki Peña's goal (who returned to the starting line-up). With this score, they went into halftime, an Athletic that caused danger, especially on Nico Williams's side, and a Barça that was better.
Penalty, tribute, and season closure
One of Barça's motivations for this second half was for Lewandowski to have some chance to win the Pichichi. In fact, he had a couple of clear chances to score two more goals, but the Pole wasn't very sharp in finishing. The younger Williams brother also wasn't successful, trying again and again from his side without success.
The third and final goal of the match was going to have the culé signature: Yuri brought down Dani Olmo inside the area and the referee (after VAR review) awarded a penalty. The Spanish attacking midfielder was going to take it and score it, making it 0-3 in the last match of this great season. This match served to pay tribute to Óscar De Marcos; the Spanish full-back retires after playing his entire life at Athletic Club.
The season ends, Flick's first directing Barça, in which they have won all the national titles and only that European dream, the Champions League, slipped away. As the German has already warned, vacations begin, but first, there will be a meeting with the players and Deco to plan the next season. The 25/26 season starts now, and the transfer market is getting closer.