Hansi Flick’s side were comfortable winners at King Abdullah Sports City in Riyadh, though Bilbao saw two late goals ruled out for offside.

Raphinha twice went close early on for Barca, before they took the lead in the 17th minute.

Following a lovely team move, Pedri released Alejandro Balde down the left, with the latter pulling the ball across the six-yard box for Gavi to tuck home.

Gavi turned provider as the Blaugrana doubled their advantage within seven minutes of the restart. His lofted pass was brilliantly controlled and fired in by Yamal.

Oscar de Marcos thought he had pulled a goal back for Bilbao in the 82nd minute, only to be denied by the offside flag.

Four minutes later, Inaki Williams was also thwarted following a VAR review, with Barca advancing to Sunday’s final, where Real Madrid or Mallorca await.

Gavi was withdrawn 26 minutes into Spain’s 3-1 win against Georgia in their final Euro 2024 qualifier on Sunday night after twisting his knee awkwardly, leaving the pitch in tears.

Initial reporting suggested the midfielder’s injury was ‘major’, with Ferran Torres dedicating his second-half goal to his club and country teammate.

After leaving the Spain camp, Gavi returned to Barcelona to undergo scans and medical tests on the injury, with the club revealing the troubling extent of it on Monday.

“Tests carried out on Monday morning on the first team player Gavihave shown that he has a complete tear of the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and an associated injury to the lateral meniscus. The player will have surgery in the coming days after which a new medical update will be released,” Barcelona said in a statement.

Barcelona ended the statement with an open invitation for supporters to send messages of love and support to fan-favourite Gavi.

“The Andalusian midfielder is a firm favourite amongst the fans. Gavi’s spirit and determination on the field are what defines him as a player and he gives absolutely everything in a Barca shirt. For that reason his injury is a big blow for all Barca fans and so here is a chance to send him a message of support,” they added.

The news comes as a bitter blow to La Blaugrana, who are currently struggling in their bid to retain their La Liga title, heading into the November international break four points adrift of surprise leaders Girona and two points behind Real Madrid.

Gavi is now facing a race against time to return this season and feature in Spain’s squad for Euro 2024 next summer.

La Liga rejected an attempt from Barcelona to register Gavi as a first-team player last week due to the club’s dire economic situation.

Gavi, who signed a new contract in September, was previously listed as an academy player.

Barcelona have been unable to add any new contracts on their wage bill due to La Liga’s salary caps.

However, a court has ruled in Barcelona’s favour and instructed La Liga to allow Gavi to be registered.

A statement from Barcelona read: “Today the Nº10 Commercial Court in Barcelona has made a decision agreeing the adoption of the unusual, provisional measure consisting of “urging the Spanish Football League (LFP)” to do all that is necessary so that the player Pablo Paez ‘Gavi’ can be registered as an FC Barcelona first team player before the close of the winter transfer market at 12.00am CET.

“The decision comes following a request made by FC Barcelona last Friday, in light of the refusal of the corresponding body of the LFP to accept the player’s registration despite the Club considering that all necessary requirements had been met to do so, just as the Court has decided provisionally.

“The decision recognises the authority of the and considers there is a principle of legitimacy in FC Barcelona’s claim and that the failure to register the player before the end of the transfer window would imply the players free agency and therefore cause serious, irreparable damage to FC Barcelona.

“La Liga has been notified of the verdict arrived at by the court and the player can now be registered as a first-team player.”

La Liga may appeal the decision.

Gavi will wear the No. 6 shirt which was worn by current Barcelona head coach Xavi during most of his playing time at the club. Gavi previously wore the No. 30 shirt.

Speaking about Gavi, Xavi said: “The priority is registering important players like Gavi.

“We can register him which is very important. I don’t see him changing club as well. I see him happy here. We had a goal which was to register Gavi and we achieved it”.

Barcelona play Real Betis on La Liga on February 1 as they look to move eight points clear at the top of the table from Real Madrid, who play Valencia on February 2.

Explaining why La Liga tried to block Gavi’s registration, La Liga president Javier Tebas said: “The issue of not registering Gavi comes as a consequence of [the contract] taking effect next season.

“For next year, [the registration] can be denied because Barca has a deficit of more than €200m (£176.3m) for next season. It doesn’t seem appropriate.”

The honour, presented by Italian newspaper Tuttosport, is given to the best player aged 21 and under that is based in Europe.

Spain international Gavi beat competition from some of Europe’s most promising youngsters to land the award, including England and Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham, Real Madrid‘s Eduardo Camavinga and Bayern Munich‘s Jamal Musiala.

“I want to thank Tuttosport,” Gavi said in a video message. “I want to thank my family, who are there in the good and bad times.

“I want to thank Barca, my teammates as without them this wouldn’t be possible. It’s an honour for me to get this award that any young player desires.”

Gavi succeeds Barca teammate Pedri, who was last year’s winner. On Monday, the 18-year-old also received the Kopa Trophy at the Ballon d’Or ceremony.

Gavi broke into Barca’s first-team in July 2021. He made 47 appearances, scoring two goals for the Catalan club in all competitions last season.

He earned a call-up to the Spain national team and became the youngest player to represent La Roja at 17 years and 62 days and the youngest ever player to score for them at 17 years and 304 days.

Gavi has since won 12 caps for Spain and is a regular for club and country heading into next month’s World Cup.

He recently signed a new contract with Barca that will keep him at the club until June 2026.

Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland are among the previous winners of the Golden Boy award.

Tuttosport also named 2022 Ballon d’Or winners Karim Benzema and Alexia Putellas as their Golden Players in the men’s and women’s categories.

The 18-year-old has played for Barcelona since 2015 and was under contract until 2023.

He made his first-team debut in August 2021, aged 17 years and 24 days, becoming the fourth-youngest player in the club’s history.

Gavi has started in all Barcelona’s La Liga matches this season.

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He became the club’s third-youngest scorer when he netted against Elche in December 2021.

The former youth product has also been a vital player for Spain since making his debut in October 2021, becoming the youngest player to represent his country at full international level.

He became the national team’s youngest scorer by scoring against the Czech Republic in June – aged 17 years and 304 days – breaking the record set in 2020 by Barca team-mate Ansu Fati.