Barcelona routs Athletic Bilbao 5-0 in Spanish Super Cup semis while Yamal watches

JEDDAH, Saudi Araba (AP) — Raphinha scored twice as Barcelona routed Athletic Bilbao 5-0 in the semifinals of the Spanish Super Cup played in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.

Hansi Flick’s team overpowered their Basque rivals by scoring four times in the first half while Barcelona star Lamine Yamal watched from the bench.

Ferran Torres swatted in a missed shot by Fermín López to start the demolition in the 23rd minute at Alinma Stadium in Jeddah.

Fermín curled in a pass by Raphinha in the 30th and Roony Bardghji squirted a strike under Athletic goalkeeper Unai Simón four minutes later.

Raphinha poured it on with a blistering strike to beat Simón in the 38th before the Brazil forward rounded off the big win in the 52nd.

“We made the game look easy. When we are playing well the game becomes easier to play,” Raphinha said. “We are focused on ourselves and ready to play whoever wins the other semifinal.”

Raphinha missed six weeks due to injury earlier this season but has been playing in the same fine form as last season since his return in early December. His goals and leadership were crucial to Barcelona winning La Liga, the Copa del Rey as well as the Spanish Super Cup last campaign.

Yamal went on against Athletic as a late substitute. He should be fresh for Sunday’s final against either Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid, which play their semifinal Thursday.

Spain forward Nico Williams remained on Athletic’s bench for the entire match. Williams has been nagged by a groin strain this season.

“This is a tough loss,” Simón said. “When you concede five goals you can’t point to any single player. It means the entire team didn’t play well.”

Barcelona is currently leading La Liga. Athletic is eighth and vying for a European berth.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Barcelona's Ferran Torres celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Spanish Super Cup semifinal soccer match against Athletic Club Bilbao at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Barcelona's Pedri controls the ball during the Spanish Super Cup semifinal soccer match against Athletic Club Bilbao at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Barcelona's Pedri controls the ball during the Spanish Super Cup semifinal soccer match against Athletic Club Bilbao at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Barcelona players celebrate after scoring the fifth goal during the Spanish Super Cup semifinal soccer match against Athletic Club Bilbao at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Barcelona players celebrate after scoring the second goal during the Spanish Super Cup semifinal soccer match against Athletic Club Bilbao at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A judge disqualified a Trump administration federal prosecutor from overseeing investigations into New York Attorney General Letitia James, ruling Thursday that he is not lawfully serving as an acting U.S. attorney.

U.S. District Judge Lorna G. Schofield blocked subpoenas requested by John Sarcone, the acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York. The judge said the Department of Justice did not follow statutory procedure after judges declined to extend Sarcone’s tenure last year.

Schofield joined several other judges across the country who have ruled against top federal prosecutors after maneuvers by the Trump administration to allow them to serve as U.S. attorneys while bypassing the usual process of getting confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

“When the Executive branch of government skirts restraints put in place by Congress and then uses that power to subject political adversaries to criminal investigations, it acts without lawful authority. Subpoenas issued under that authority are invalid. The subpoenas are quashed, and Mr. Sarcone is disqualified from further participation in the underlying investigations,” the judge said in her decision.

Schofield said Sarcone is not lawfully serving as acting U.S. attorney and that any “of his past or future acts taken in that capacity are void or voidable as they would rest on authority Mr. Sarcone does not lawfully have.”

James, a Democrat, challenged Sarcone’s authority after he issued subpoenas seeking information about lawsuits she filed against Republican President Donald Trump, claiming he had committed fraud in his business dealings, and separately against the National Rifle Association and some of its former leaders.

She claimed the inquiry into her lawsuits is part of a campaign of baseless investigations and prosecutions of Trump’s perceived enemies.

Justice Department lawyers argued Sarcone was appointed properly and that the subpoenas were valid.

The department said in a email Thursday it "will continue to fight and defend the President and the Attorney General’s authority to appoint their U.S. Attorneys.”

James’ office called Thursday's ruling “an important win for the rule of law.”

“We will continue to defend our office’s successful litigation from this administration’s political attacks,” the office's statement said.

Last month, a panel of judges from the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sitting in Philadelphia sided with a lower-court judge’s ruling disqualifying Alina Habba from serving as New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor.

In November, a federal judge dismissed criminal cases against former FBI Director James Comey and James after concluding that the hastily installed prosecutor who filed the charges, Lindsey Halligan, was unlawfully appointed to the position of interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.

A similar dynamic played out in Nevada, where a federal judge disqualified the Trump administration’s pick to be U.S. attorney there. And a federal judge in Los Angeles disqualified the acting U.S. attorney in Southern California from several cases after concluding he stayed in the job longer than allowed.

In New York, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi appointed Sarcone to serve as the interim U.S. attorney in March. When his 120-day term elapsed, judges in the district declined to keep him in the post.

Bondi then appointed Sarcone as a special attorney and designated him first assistant U.S. attorney for the district, moves that federal officials say allow him to serve as an acting U.S. attorney.

The judge, who sits in New York City, took issue with the Justice Department's actions.

“(O)n the same day that the judges declined to extend Mr. Sarcone’s appointment, the Department took coordinated steps — through personnel moves and shifting titles — to install Mr. Sarcone as Acting U.S. Attorney. Federal law does not permit such a workaround,” she wrote.

Sarcone was part of Trump’s legal team during the 2016 presidential campaign and worked for the U.S. General Services Administration during Trump’s first term.

“The people of the Northern District of New York deserve a qualified, independent prosecutor, not a political loyalist,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said in a prepared statement.

Schofield said the federal government could reissue the subpoenas at the direction of a lawfully authorized attorney.

Joshua Naftalis, a Manhattan federal prosecutor for 11 years before entering private practice in 2023, said it's "always a big deal when judges say that the U.S. attorney doesn’t have the authority.” He added that subpoenas aren’t typically issued by a single prosecutor so the ruling might not directly affect other investigations brought through the prosecutor’s office.

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Associated Press writer Larry Neumeister contributed from New York.

FILE - John Sarcone, acting U.S. Attorney for Northern New York, leaves Manhattan federal court, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Michael Sisak, File)

New York Attorney General Letitia James arrives at City Hall for the public inauguration swearing-in ceremony of Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)