October held the ‘cotton test’ for Athletic, in the words of its coach, At the moment, zero victories this month, which ends on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. against Villarreal in San Mamés. After settling in third place, very well positioned in the Champions zone in part due to a very benevolent calendar against the weakest rivals in the First Division, the rojiblanco team has been deflating. The arrival of the most powerful adversaries has exposed certain shortcomings.
To start this stretch of the course, a Sevilla against which they could win perfectly, but also lose if Herrera does not intervene with a collective spirit, in a decisive play, in which he avoided a goal even if it led to his expulsion. The rockiest Atlético later arrived at La Catedral and took all three points. And then Getafe frustrated the lions with Munir. New tie. What happened yesterday at the Camp Nou was a complete review: 4-0. Athletic goes hand in hand with Sevilla in the visit to the greats (the Nervionenses accumulate 41 League games without winning at Madrid, Atlético and Barça: 10 draws and 31 losses, since they won in 2008 at the Calderón and the Bernabéu). In terms of Bilbao, since their victory at the Calderón in 2011, there is no way to break the jinx: 17 games in Barça’s fiefdom (2 draws and 15 setbacks), 12 in the mattress (2 draws and 10 losses) and 11 in the Bernabéu (2 draws and 9 losses). In total: 6 draws and 34 setbacks, 40 games without adding the three points. The lions have been conceding goals in the azulgrana coliseum since 1985, where they have only one point in the last 19 visits and Valverde has conceded 19 goals in his five recent games in charge of the rojiblancos.
Thus, only two points have been added out of 12, and Athletic remains in the European zone thanks to its great harvest at the beginning of the course. He is sixth, tied with Villarreal (18), precisely his next rival. The Submarine comes with a different trajectory, since, apart from a disaster similar to that of the Bilbao team at Barça, they have won two games at home, against Osasuna and Almería. “It was a horrible day,” Valverde acknowledged yesterday, who argued that “now it’s time to get up.” He made mistakes in the approach, like putting a Yuri who is not yet ready to face Dembélé, one of the most explosive wingers in the world. And he granted a rare opportunity to Zarraga in a very demanding field and outside his usual place, chasing shadows. This time he dispensed with Muniain and Sancet and was surprised by Xavi’s asymmetric line-up, with four midfielders and a single winger. The technician was questioned if it was an accident or a reality check. “We will see that next week. It is not a game that adheres to the norm of what we have been doing this season. No one is exempt from having a bad day or the rival being better than you, ”he resolved. The sensations were bad and Yeray himself pointed out that “it’s time to do self-criticism”. It goes for 22 years without beating Barça in its field. And Vesga finished off: We have our minds set on Villarreal”.
