Athletic take advantage of Chivas in the Tree of Gernika Trophy

Athletic defeated Chivas in San Mamés in the first leg of the Tree of Gernika Trophy. Berenguer and Sancet scored the winning goals in a match that attracted just over 17,000 people to Bilbao’s stadium, not even a third of the total capacity. This conflict would continue the following summer in the Mexican fiefdom.

The superiority of Valverde’s men over Paunovic’s men was evident almost from the first whistle. The locals, as is customary at this level of competition, took the initiative and barely allowed a rival team that had just lost to Getafe at the Coliseum to pass from midfield and that was in the middle of the preseason. Both Agirrezabala and Iru, his replacement in the last quarter of an hour, hardly had to intervene in this event without the World Cup player Unai Simón.

Good defensive work by the visiting team also prevented the lions from having many scoring chances. Jiménez, his goalkeeper, did not have too much work despite the two goals received. The main problem of his team lies in their poor ability to enter the part of the field defended by their opponents and their lack of goal on the few occasions they shot on goal.

Eleven men without three World Cup players

Valverde faced this friendly to conduct some tests within his starting eleven. Due to the absence of Unai Simón and the Williams brothers, the three World Cup players; the Athletic coach repeated Agirrezabala under the sticks, placing Morcillo on the right wing and leaving Villalibre in the lead. The other novelty is in the presence of Dani García and Vesga together in the double pivot.

Paunovic, the Chivas coach, introduced several changes to the starting team last Thursday at Getafe. The Mexican team, which has been in full preseason, was planted in the semi-empty stadium of San Mamés this time with a 1-4-1-4-1 system. The visitors, despite playing away from home, wore their usual colors while the Lions wore their second kit.

The locals had a hard time getting into the game. The Bilbao team took their time to put the pieces together. The man from Guadalajara, meanwhile, limited himself to maintaining his position and keeping possession of the ball as much as possible. Athletic’s pressure, however, began to take effect as the minutes progressed.

Berenguer, after a good pass by Villalibre, was able to open the scoring with a cross shot in the first half hour of play. The Gernika striker himself had the option to score a goal immediately afterwards. The first half, with Valverde’s men clearly dominating, ended with a header from Yeray from point blank range narrowly missed. Agirrezabala went to the booth almost without interfering.

Eight changes at a time

The second half started with an eleven from Bilbao with many new things. Only the goalkeepers Vesga and Barenguer remained level with the grass compared to the first half. The visitors, on the other hand, dosed their substitutes.

Morcillo was the first lion to open the fight after the break. His shot widened. He was then left alone against goalkeeper Jiménez, but eventually Orozco snatched the ball away from him. His ‘revenge’ was immediate as the next play saw Sancet unchecked and the Navarrese, after gaining control of the ball, crossed into the back of the Mexican net.

The dynamics of the match hardly changed from that 58th minute. The visitors, with new faces in their ranks, continued without appearing in the domains of an Athletic that ended with Iru under the sticks, Capa playing ahead of Lekue on the right wing and Paredes did the entire second half on the rear axis with Vivian. The lions will attend the second leg of this Árbol de Gernika tournament, which will be played next summer in a Mexican district, with a two-goal advantage.