Athletic are condemned to fight for seventh place in the Liga after Thursday’s defeat against Betis. Now the distance to the Verdiblancos, which is sixth, is five points, which is almost six considering that the lions lost their average average. Inaki Williams reviewed the situation this morning at the Lezama facilities. “Obviously it’s a stick, not only for the team but also for the fans, but there are fifteen points left, five games where we have the necessary hope and attitude to face them. On Saturday we have one another direct rival and we’re going for it”, he said of the visit to Villarreal, in fifth place with seven points.
The most realistic goal at the moment is seventh place, which would allow them to play in the Conference League next season after Real Madrid’s victory over Osasuna in the Cup final, but the locker room has its sights set higher. . “To see what happened in the final is a fan that opens up, but we don’t have to go for the minimum, we have to aim for the Europa League. It’s obviously complicated, difficult, but on Saturday we have a complicated but very good match against an opponent who was there in the match. We will try to cut three points from him, try to return to the dynamics of victories”, he added.
The ‘9’ from Athletic highlighted the support of the public, even in the last two home games when it was played on Thursday at ten o’clock: “We don’t lack support, the fans are always with us, in complicated times it is always there. It will continue like this until the end of the season. People will continue to be hooked on the team because, regardless of the results, they saw that the team made an effort, gave everything and the points eluded us because of bad luck”.
The team performs better away from home. So tell the numbers. “We have to recover what San Mamés has been in other years. In other seasons we didn’t get three and this year it becomes the opposite. San Mamés must be a fortress to continue the desire in Europe. There is we have two home games left (Celta and Elche), but now we have one away against a direct rival. We will go to them”, he affirmed.
The Bilbao team had up to three chances to climb to sixth place and wasted all three after the defeat against Sevilla, the draw with Mallorca and the 0-1 reception against Betis: “Yes, it’s true we have gone crazy at home. . It is a good time to hit the table and it has not been like that. We have to respond again and build confidence in the environment, so that people can see that we continue to fight for Europe”.
The striker does not know the reason why the team did not respond in important moments, when it could take the last step in the table to rely on itself. “We lack that bit of luck, the ball didn’t go in. You arrive disappointed, but it’s no use complaining. There are only five finals left, we have to be very placed. The trains are running. Everything happens by adding three on Saturday because those at the bottom are forcing ”, he pointed out about Girona, Rayo, Osasuna and Sevilla, the rivals at the moment for the place of the Conference League.
The board of directors, the coaching staff and the dressing room publicly decided at the beginning of the season to achieve a European place. What does it mean to not achieve a goal? “It will be sad, I wouldn’t call it a failure, but it will be a blow to everyone. When the goal is not reached, you are disappointed and mad, but it is not something I consider now because the team will go to Europe”, pointed out the man from Bilbao.
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.
