Bad, very bad Athletic yesterday at El Sadar. The lions surrendered the first leg of the match against Osasuna after an oversight on the return of the break that Abde took advantage of to score and establish the difference to the minimum for the return to San Mamés.
The rojiblanco team was unable to overcome a very good team from Navarra, with very clear ideas and enough inspiration and skill to make a difference at the first possible opportunity. The rojiblancos, this time in black, only seemed to show signs of life when they sounded the rebate. His efforts, however, were wasted.
The people of Bilbao now have the opportunity to amend the plan at the beginning of April in San Mamés. They have a lot to improve between now and then because what was seen last Sunday and yesterday was unacceptable. The team, whose will cannot be denied, does not play at all.
No major news on Arrasate’s starting eleven. The eleven more or less expected with Aridane in the axis of the back instead of Unai García and Aimar Oroz in the middle for Darko. Six changes in total compared to last Sunday’s lineup in Pizjuán.
Valverde was surprised at the start. No one expected the return of Iñigo Martínez, but ondarrutarra, along with Yeray, acted as center left alongside Vivian. This time, Dani García played a double pivot with Vesga and Muniain, with Nico Williams on the bench, he stuck to the left wing. Athletic have made four changes for the clash against Girona.
Equality was the dominant trend in the first half which was locked and fiercely contested by both contenders. Neither team could project themselves in attack due to the sheer efficiency of both defences. A save with Sergio Herrera’s foot from a Munian shot with Iñaki Williams’ subsequent goal clearly offside and little more either way.
Hauling
The decoration changes in the first bars of the second half. Abde, two minutes after the restart, beat Agirrezabala by completing a counterattack with a pass from Moi Gómez. The Bilbao containment system exploded in an inexplicable way.
Valverde, with his team unable to react, looked for alternatives on the bench. Lekue and Raúl García were the first to join, coming in through De Marcos and Berenguer. Later Nico Williams came to replace Muniain. Guruzeta closed the circle by replacing Iñaki Williams and almost equalized in the last minute, but Sergio Herrera managed to clear his shot. Time to go back to San Mamés.
osana
10
athletic
Osasuna: Sergio Herrera; Moncayola, Aridane, David Garcia, Juan Cruz; tower; Chimy Ávila (Rubén García, m. 71), Aimar (Darko, m. 86), Moi Gómez (Pablo Ibáñez, m. 86), Abde (Barja, m. 77); and Budimir (Kike García, m. 71).
Athletic: Agirrezabala; De Marcos (Lekue, m. 58), Vivian, Iñigo Martínez, Yuri; Dani Garcia, Vesga; Berenguer (Raúl García, m. 58), Sancet, Muniain (Nico Williams, m. 65); and Iñaki Williams (Guruzeta, m. 82).
Purpose: 1-0: min. 47, Abde.
Referee: Gil Manzano (Extremadura Committee), assisted by Nevado Rodríguez and Martínez Nicolás. He showed yellow cards to Budimir, Moi Gómez and Darko for Osasuna and to Berenguer, Vesga and Íñigo Martínez for the visiting team.
happenings: Match corresponding to the first leg of the Cup semifinals played at the El Sadar stadium in front of 23,026 spectators.
see the match sheet
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.
