Villalibre scored his first Athletic goal in Las Llanas

Tonight is not the first confrontation between Sestao Ruver and Athletic under the new Cup format. In fact, the two teams also met in Las Llanas when the Spanish Federation led by Rubiales promoted the current KO tournament competition system. The lions prevailed by a resounding 0-4 on January 11, 2020 and later qualified to play the final which they lost against Real.

On a cold winter night in Sestao, there were two great stars in the Bilbao team. Both saw a double goal. Then Asier Villalibre and Yuri make it clear that the Left Bank is a left-handed thing.

The striker from Gernika scored his first goal as a lion in that match in Las Llanas. “Ibai quickly took a free kick when he saw Yuri throw the uncheck. They were surprised by the local defense. The man from Zarautz put a tense center and Villalibre finished first. In the squad It’s a good goal to be the first to score as a lion”, described our colleague Endika Río.

Villalibre scored a dozen more goals, including the second for Las Llanas. Valverde took advantage of this winter preseason to give him minutes in the four friendlies Athletic played. The man from Gernika was unable to see the goal at this stage of preparation. His ownership in tonight’s game is not guaranteed.

Yuri’s Cup

The other great star in the rojiblanca key of that cup match of the 2019-2020 season against Sestao River was Yuri. The left-back scored his first goals as a lion in the KO tournament and assisted Villalibre with one of his measured crosses. That was, without a doubt, the preamble to the excellent performance offered by the defender of Zarautz under the command of Gaizka Garitano.

Yuri, after his two goals in Las Llanas, achieved the goal of the tie in three, minute 118, in the round of 16 in Tenerife (the lions went to penalties) and also signed the goal in Granada, minute 81 and including 2-0 in the match, leading the lions to the final of that edition of the cup.