Valverde: “Of course we will go to everything”

Athletic visit the Santiago Bernabéu tomorrow in their return to competition after the national team’s break. Then the Cup final comes to Seville. The question is whether Valverde He will remove his starting team or make changes. The coach indicated that he would choose the first option with some exceptions, for example in Julen Agirrezabala, who will be the goalkeeper leading the event next Saturday in La Cartuja. “Of course we will go to everyone. No team goes into goal without winning a game. We go with the intention of winning if we can and if we don’t win, draw. This is about it. We haven’t played in a long time except for those who went to play international matches. Tomorrow we have the option of maintaining the position we occupy. “This is what we have to do,” he said of the fourth place the team currently occupies after beating Alavés on the final day.

The man from Gasteiz did not want to confirm whether he would make changes or keep his most common block, but he left some reflections worth mentioning. “Many factors must be considered. We haven’t played since the 16th, tomorrow is a game where we have things at stake in the League and the best way to win an important game is to compete. All this should be appreciated. Yes, it is true that we have a final next week, but today we also have an important match because in the previous round we put ourselves in fourth place. “That’s something we have to consider,” he said.

The coach also emphasized the importance of the match at the Bernabéu. “It is important because it keeps us in a competitive rhythm and because it is a rival that has not lost at home, it is clear that it will ask a lot from us, and because we expect that very important match. , which is a final, and the rest of the competition, good results and good feelings. This is the best way to face the future. We go there with that intention,” he noted.

The coach knows that there is a risk of injuring an important player and missing the decisive event in Seville: “Evidently in every match there is always a risk that someone will receive a blow, well yes… One can also go out in for ten minutes and receive a blow or have some problem. It can also happen to them that there are also important games after us and also to us. No one is exempt from that issue, but our intention is to find a good result that will build us and of course have good feelings about what awaits in the future. So we have to focus.”

Real Madrid is the only team that managed to beat Athletic this season at San Mamés. Regardless of that situation, there are other factors that make the clash at the Bernabéu so fascinating. “Tomorrow’s match is always significant because we are two historic teams. It is a very difficult match. Madrid have not lost a game at home this season. We know how difficult it is, it is complicated and they are at the top of their own merits. But it is a game and we have to play it and we have to try to go there with the aim of showing our virtues and not showing the best version of Madrid. It is clear that here they are superior and they are clear who lost to us, but a lot of time has passed. Let’s see how we are in this second round.”