Athletic defeated Villarreal on Sunday, on Monday they met their first rival in the Cup and now they play the sixth round of the Europa League. This season is like this without a break, with games every three days. The lions visit Fenerbahçe in Istanbul (Sukru Saracoglu, 4:30 pm in Bilbao) with the idea of almost sentencing direct passage to the round of 16 to achieve two goals to one, play the second leg of this tie in San Mamés and avoid two games of the round of 32, something that is no small thing in a campaign full of official promises.
The group of Valverde They are second in the table with the same 13 points as the leader, Lazio, but with a worse goal difference (+9 compared to +7). It seems clear that 16 points will be enough to be in the top eight, according to the estimates made by UEFA before the start of the League Phase.
The red and white teams are having an almost clean competition. It started with a good draw at the always complicated Olympic Stadium in Rome and since then it has counted all its matches with victories, AZ Alkmaar (2-0), Slavia Prague (1-0), Ludogorets (1 -2) and Elfsborg (3-0). After playing this afternoon in the Asian part of the Turkish metropolis, only two games remain, against Besiktas on January 22 in the same city and against Viktoria Plsen on the 30th at home. The round of 16 will be played on March 6 and 13.
Fenerbahçe is more demanding of the event. Those led by Jose Mourinho They are fifteenth with only eight points in their locker, a position that will force them to play sixteenth. The Turks started with a victory against Union Saint Gilloise (2-1), then added two draws with Twente and Manchester United in their stadium, both 1-1, lost at home to AZ (3-1) and achieved a saving victory on the last day against Slavia Prague (1-2). Youssef En-Nesyri He is their top scorer in Europe with three goals.
Things will only get better for him in his League. They are second with 32 points, six behind leaders Galatasaray, after a balance of ten wins, two draws and as many losses, with 36 goals in favor and 13 against to become the team with the fewest goals scored .
Dzeko, Tadic, En-Nesyri…
Fenerbahçe has been strengthened by top-level footballers such as the Moroccan striker, for which they paid almost 20 million to Sevilla, Sofian Amrabat, Philip Kostic and Allan Saint-Maximinthese three on loan from Fiorentina, Juventus and Al Ahli respectively. They all join a squad where a handful of stars stand out as attackers Dzeko and Tadicthe Brazilian Fredthe Ghanaian center back Alexander Djiku -partner of Inaki Williams in Ghana- or the Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic.
The eleventh of Valverde It is a complete mystery. The logical thing was for him to pick Unai Simón in goal after playing against Elfsborg, with Gorosabel, Vivian, Yes and Adam in defense. Galarretta and Jauregize They may be in charge of bringing the handle to the medullary and above Nico Williams He will return to the team after not starting against Villarreal. His brother and Guruzeta They might as well play from the start after being relieved on Sunday and it looks like that Sancet He will start on the bench after playing the full game against the yellows. Recently, Txingurri pulled out Berenguer as your replacement obstacle.
Athletic and Fenerbahçe have not faced each other, but they have an indirect relationship. The group of Marcelo Bielsa qualified for the Europa League in the 2011-12 season after UEFA punished the Turkish team by not playing in the Champions League due to a match-fixing issue, a penalty that put Trabsonspor, the Lions’ rivals in the previous round, in Champions League and the lions in the second continental competition.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
