Valencia and Athletic play the pass to the semi-finals of the cup amid a poor streak in the league
Top football is an ongoing exam. It is a habit to live on the brink of crisis. What they call a bad streak. Valencia and Athletic are now in that situation in the League and their cup tie this Thursday at Mestalla is ‘life or death’, another common expression in football jargon. It may sound exaggerated, although there is something in it, especially for the Valencian fans, who flirt with the relegation places. Athletic travels with more poise in the league, but has lost its increasingly expensive European place for the time being. Whoever falls into this tie will face a setback that could mark the balance of the entire season. Whoever wins enters a phase, the semi-finals, which generates a wave of illusion in their fans. There are parties that form a crossroads. Ernesto Valverde is clearly on the trail. “We still have a chance to play a final and we want to grab it,” he said in Lezama on Wednesday.
“The approach is like a final,” Txingurri stressed. Mestalla, which will receive the rojiblanco team with overcrowded stands, is not a very accessible stadium for Athletic. In fact, there he fell in the cup semi-final of the last edition. The rojiblanco team, intense in the game, although with blind aim, has become mired in the competition. He doesn’t get the award for his hard work. Sunday’s defeat against Real Madrid in San Mamés (0-2) sharpened the results. He misses success in the auction.
Valverde has the entire selection at his disposal, except for Iñigo Martínez, who “has taken steps forward this week”. That sentence fits if his injury is to the foot. “I would like to have it. We need it one hundred percent. I hope your discomfort in the sole of the foot will disappear, “he confided. He trusts that De Marcos, with shoulder complaints, is one hundred percent.
Also in Valencia they think that their team has less points than their game deserves. Gennaro Gattuso has put together a solidary group, aggressive like him. But he can’t escape that defensive fragility that has prevented him from defending the initial advantage in many games. He has added seven of the last 27 points. A win in nine games. In the vicinity, note the vertigo that arises when you look down. Mestalla is your best supporter. He added 14 of the 20 points in the league. The home factor plays in his favour, although, as Valverde recalls, its effect is different in the league and in the cup, where “both teams must aim to win”.
Valverde foresees a fierce clash. «Valencia tries to take the initiative with the ball. We are two teams with defined personalities. The game here (1-0 in San Mamés in the League) was an open game’, he recalls. “You have to be patient. Yes but no. Impatience should never dominate you and that means a mess. But with patience you don’t win things, you have to go for it ». And he wrinkled his face when he talked about the field factor. is an important advantage, but it is not a league game. We both played it.” Athletic practiced the penalty kicks. He does it “all season”, though “has nothing to do” with a real fire trial.
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
