Athletic Bilbao shuts down Barcelona's meek comeback attempt to win Supercopa de Espana

Even for the almighty attacking juggernaut that is Barcelona - and its half-man, half-amazing superstar Lionel Messi - some obstacles are simply insurmountable.

But nobody expected that obstacle to come in the form of Aritz Aduriz and Athletic Bilbao.

Even after Bilbao obliterated the defending treble winners 4-0 in the opening leg of the Supercopa de Espana last week at the San Mames, where Aduriz scored a second-half hat trick, it was impossible to ignore the feeling Barcelona could pull off what would be, for mere mortal clubs, impossible.

Score five goals at home. It wouldn't be the first time.

"If we do things well we have every possibility. If we get things right, I am sure we can turn things around," manager Luis Enrique said ahead of the contest at the Camp Nou.

Barcelona didn't get things right on Monday evening.

Despite a splendid goal from Messi in the 43rd minute, a red card to Gerard Pique and yet another goal from Aduriz was enough to see the contest finish one apiece, leaving Barcelona miles short of a potential comeback, and Bilbao standing triumphant for the first time in 31 years.

Messi's goal did generate some buzz inside a typically jam-packed Camp Nou. Even then, though, it was impossible to ignore the sense that those inside the iconic stadium were hesitant to get legitimately excited about the possibility of a comeback.

But when Pique was shown a surprising, yet refreshing, red card for berating the linesman in the 56th minute, any sense that a four-goal turnaround was possible sifted out of the building and drifted away into the Catalan night.

Aduriz simply confirmed what everybody knew to be inevitable when he pounced on his own rebound to slot the ball into a gaping goal in the 74th minute of the contest.

It was only right that the 34-year-old striker was the one to close the book on what was a stunning 5-1 aggregate victory for the Basque club, a win that ended Barcelona's hopes of capturing six titles in the calendar year.

"Winning a trophy with Athletic Bilbao for me, it's the greatest, the best," Aduriz said immediately following the match.

Could there be any way to make it better?

Scoring two hat tricks against Barcelona in less than two weeks would come pretty close. Aduriz will get that chance on Sunday, when the two clubs meet again in their opening match of the new La Liga season.

Surely Bilbao can't hold off Messi and company one more time? Well, that's what everyone said coming into Monday's match.