Barcelona coach Luis Enrique was happy with their performance as they lost the Super Cup to Athletic Bilbao.

The second-leg finished 1-1 last night, with Bilbao winning the tie 5-1 on aggregate.

Barca briefly led, via Lionel Messi's 44th-minute goal, but their already minimal hopes of overturning their 4-0 first-leg defeat were effectively ended by Gerard Pique's red card.

Athletic's Kike Sola was later sent off in the 86th minute, but by then Aritz Aduriz had already scored the equalising goal against the Primera Division, Copa del Rey and European champions.

“I think they played very well," Enrique said in his post-match press conference. “They got Athletic doubting and I could see our opponents were starting to worry. That's we were after in this game. We competed and made a huge effort.

“But it all ended when Gerard Piqué was sent off," he admitted. “I can only say well done to Athletic for such a fine performance. Sometimes it's good to lose in order to appreciate how hard it is to win."