Athletic will face a team that has just changed coaches for the third time so far this season. The lions turn to face Espanyol this afternoon, a club that replaced Luis García this week with Diego Martínez on his bench. The rojiblancos experienced a similar situation before in their clashes against Sevilla and Villarreal.
On October 8, on the eighth day of the league, the lions had to face Sevilla at Sánchez Pizjuán who had just dismissed Julen Lopetegui to sign Sampaoli as coach. The lions drew 1-1 in that match at the Seville fief which marked the return of the Argentine coach, a coach who had also been replaced by Mendilibar two days earlier. Oliver Torres opened the scoring in the 4th minute and Vesga equalized in the 73rd minute.
Four games later, a similar situation occurred again against Villarreal. Quique Setién arrived at San Mamés on matchday 12 as the new yellow coach after Emery left for Aston Villa. A goal from Iñaki Williams decided that match in favor of the lions.
Valverde himself pointed out yesterday to Lezama that “it is true that it has happened to us for the third time this season that we face a team that changes coaches. The others, with Setién and Sampaoli, maybe we still have some references . Some issues with Luis García may change now in Spain. Let’s see. We have to focus on ourselves”.
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.
