Soccer

Aritz Aduriz ecstatic as Athletic Bilbao end 31 year drought

Striker scored four in two-legged Spanish Super Cup final against Barcelona

Athletic Club’s Aritz Aduriz celebrates after scoring against FC Barcelona during the Spanish soccer Supercup second leg match at Camp Nou. Photograph: EPA
Athletic Club’s Aritz Aduriz celebrates after scoring against FC Barcelona during the Spanish soccer Supercup second leg match at Camp Nou. Photograph: EPA
Tue Aug 18 2015 - 09:12

Not since witnessing the birth of his daughter has Aritz Aduriz experienced the kind of joy that consumed him when Athletic Bilbao ended a 31-year wait for a trophy on Monday night.

The veteran striker, who last week scored a hat-trick as Athletic plundered a surprise 4-0 lead over Spanish and European champions Barcelona in the first leg of the Supercopa, notched again as the Basque outfit claimed a 1-1 draw at the Nou Camp to confirm their seizure of the cup.

And Aduriz could barely believe how the two games had unfolded.

“If you’d written a script it would have been impossible for it to turn out this way,” he told ligabbva.com. “Winning a trophy is the greatest thing that could have happened to us and even more so because it happened against Barcelona.

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“It’s incredibly satisfying to win a trophy. For me, it’s the best thing I could have possibly hoped for. Now we’ve achieved something special, and it will make us stronger.

“The happiest day of my life was the day my daughter was born, but apart from that...”

Aduriz confirmed his Bilbao team-mates would soon take to the Nervion river to celebrate their Supercopa triumph in the style of the double-winning side of 1984, who paraded their silverware aboard a fleet of barges.

He added: “It’s been many years since we’ve celebrated anything in Bilbao so the people from two, or even three, generations back need to experience that.”

Lionel Messi scored Barca's goal but the dismissal of Gerard Pique meant the already unlikely idea of a comeback was rendered practically impossible.

Head coach Luis Enrique, who guided the Catalans to four trophies in his first season in charge, pointed to his defender's early departure when analysing where his team had fallen short.

“The final ended when Gerard Pique was sent off,” he told Barca’s official website. “We remain a united group and we are certainly competitive.

“A hotly-contested league season is about to begin and we are optimistic. It will be difficult but we want to keep bringing pleasure to our fans while remaining a benchmark club in world football.”