Valverde considers Villarreal more “dangerous” after falling out of the Cup

Athletic will play their last home game of the season tomorrow. Villarreal visit San Mamés in a battle for fourth place, the last that gives the right to play in the Champions League. Right now it belongs to the lions but have two more games than the yellows, who are fifth. The Castellón team arrived after suffering a heavy blow on Wednesday after losing in the Cup against a Second RFEF team, Pontevedra.

Valverde He believes it makes them more dangerous. “They will have a reaction to that. The Copa del Rey is a very dangerous competition, especially in these qualifying rounds, the coaches know that. To me they were the worst game of the season, you play it and nobody seems to care and we all know how important it is. It has happened to them, it can happen to us, it can happen to anyone… That makes them more dangerous because they have to have reaction,” he said in Lezama after the last training session.

Tomorrow’s game is more important from a qualifying point of view than the Real Madrid game on Wednesday because it is a direct rival. “We are two teams that are close in the standings. It is true that we are ahead but this is something that we do not know if it can be maintained because they have a deficit in the match compared to us. In recent years, Villarreal has always been our opponent, they always choose positions that are very similar to us,” he admitted.

“So far they are a good team, they have only lost one game away from home (at the Bernabéu) and they have won four out of seven. They have good players, a good coach, it is true that they have been eliminated from the Cup , but they are fully focused on the League, this is a team that will probably be in Europe next year. We don’t know whether in the Champions League, which is an obvious option for them, or in the Europa League we all think about it because we see it working. He won games and scored in the last minutes, which always strengthens you. At the moment it may be a coincidence but it stops being so. Now it is a direct rival, ” he added.

The coach of the Castellón team is Marcelino Garcia Toralwho led Athletic for a season and a half and won the Super Cup in the final against Barça. Txingurri was asked how he saw the Asturian’s time in Bilbao: “I saw it well, like everyone else. Athletic is always fighting for positions that give access to Europe, especially the season complete, which is what we all try and want. I always thought that in itself was an Athletic achievement. Sometimes you get it and sometimes you don’t. When you are at the top you forget that there were other years when you were in a lower position. That can happen, the team has good intentions to fight, sometimes you get them and sometimes you don’t, they did a good job here.”

The Spaniard does consider that Villarreal has the advantage “that their coach knows Athletic perfectly because we don’t change that much.” He also praised the work he is developing at the Valencian Community club: “He always does continuous work with the teams he joins, to keep them in high positions. It is a well-known team, with good results, which includes good players. Villarreal is one of the leading candidates.”

Txingurri has all players available except Ander Herrerarecovering from a muscle injury. The question is who will be the starter in goal. As in the previous games, the coach did not want to say if he will choose tomorrow Julen Agirrezabala like on Wednesday against Real Madrid, or First Simonwho played against Elfsborg. Yes, he has confirmed that the one from Murgia is fine: “If he is not okay, he will not come with us. It was a while ago but of course he is okay.”