Athletic has reached 56 points and thus surpassed the last score achieved in the last six seasons when there are still nine games to finish the League championship, according to data provided by EFE.
The last campaign in which the red and white team finished with more than 56 points in its locker was in 2016-17, the final stage of Ernesto Valverde’s second spell at San Mamés. Athletic then scored 63 which gave them seventh place and a ticket to the Europa League.
This is the last continental classification of a Bilbao team that since that year has been 16th with 43 points (2017-18), 8th with 53 (2018-19), 11th with 51 (2019- 2020), 10th with 46 (2020-21), 8th with 55 (2021-22) and 8th with 51 (2022-23).
Furthermore, those 56 points in 29 games are the best balance for a Bilbao team at this point in the League since the 1995-96 season began rewarding success with three points in a 20-team tournament.
Athletic’s best score on matchday 29 in the last 27 years was 52 in the 2013-14 season, the first in the new stadium and now with Valverde on the bench.
That season the lions finished with 70 points and won fourth place, which allowed them to compete in the Champions League the following season.
The best classification of this era was the runner-up finish in 1997-98. At that time, Athletic needed 65 points to be second after a fantastic last stretch in which they achieved 21 points in the last ten days.
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.
