Athletic, semi-finalists in the Cup and fifth in the League, were unable to beat Almería yesterday, bottom of the First Division who have not won a game so far in the championship. It was felt even before the ball began to roll, in any case, that the match against the Indálico team would be more complicated than the qualifying situation of both contenders first appeared. The background of the tenants of both banks also points in the same direction.
Gaizka Garitano and Valverde had met six times in a Liga match before last night’s clash. The balance is clearly in favor of the current Athletic coach, as he counted these duels in the form of three victories for his teams, two draws and one loss. The match that Txingurri lost was, curiously, against the now Almería coach on the Bilbao bench.
August 16, 2019 is recorded for future generations in the memory of fans of the San Mamés team, as it was the day of Aduriz’s famous overhead kick goal against Barça. That same day also saw the debut of Sancet’s First Division. Seven of Athletic’s starting players at that time are still part of the first team: Unai Simón, Yeray, De Marcos, Dani García, Muniain, Raúl García and Iñaki Williams. Six of them played last night.
Garitano, who returned to the balance between both coaches, signed a draw with Eibar at San Mamés in 2014-15 (0-0) and lost at Ipurua (0-1). The last result was repeated again with the player from Rio de Janeiro as coach of Dépor in 2016-17 and in the second round in San Mamés the lions also won (2-1). With the current Almería coach at Athletic and Valverde at Barça, the lions drew 0-0 with San Mamés in the first year (2018-19) and won the second thanks to the aforementioned goal from Aduriz.
Very fair result
Very fair results, all of them in competitive matches from start to finish. Yesterday three quarters the same thing happened again. This time there was a distribution of points despite the fact that the qualifying reality of both sides were diametrically opposed.
Those who thought Garitano’s visit to Almería would be a walk in the park were wrong even before the ball started rolling. It is enough to examine what happened recently between the red and white team and Real Madrid, Barça, Atlético and Girona to know that nothing could be further from the truth. Never again will the lions face a rival whose reality on the table doesn’t match their true potential.
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.
