Osasuna and Athletic bid farewell to 2024 in an interesting derby at El Sadar. Rojillos will start today in eighth position in the table, with points with seventh, Real, and eight ahead of the lions, fourth. A distance that seems huge between both contenders, but if Bilbao lose today it will leave them five points clear of the locals with the addition of playing one less game.
This afternoon’s appointment at the red fiefdom, scheduled for 6:30 pm, will bring them. The locals are also more motivated in this derby which particularly encourages many members of the Bilbao team such as Williams, Sancet and Beñat Prados, among others.
The refereeing will be done by Quintero González, from the Andalusian Committee, with Trujillo Suárez on VAR. This young referee will make his debut with the Bilbao team, as he has not coached them until now. In Navarrese, however, he did it on the fifth day of this championship. A day that ended with a 3-1 victory for Rayo against the rojillos.
Osasuna is the fourth team in the League to have accumulated the most points in its own field at the end of the last day of the league. The rojillos, with Vicente Moreno as coach after the end of Jagoba Arrasate’s cycle at Iruña, have accumulated 18 points in these nine home games. Only Atlético, with 23, and Real Madrid and Athletic themselves, with 21, have surpassed him at domestic level.
Mallorca, Celta, Las Palmas, Barça and Valladolid bowed out at El Sadar while Leganés, Villarreal and Alavés got one point and Betis three. It is worth highlighting, however, that in the last two matches in their own field, the rojillos signed a draw. His starting eleven this afternoon, with Moi Gómez back in the group and Catena suspended, shouldn’t differ too much from Herrera’s; Areso, Boyomo, Herrando, Juan Cruz or Bretones; Torró; Rubén Peña, Moncayola, Oroz, Rubén García; and Budimir.
Last departure
Meanwhile, Valverde has all the parts of his team at his disposal. The lions face this derby against Osasuna after enjoying a clean week in terms of midweek matches. A competitive break that, at least on a physical level, should be good for the lions given how busy their calendar has been since the last league break.
One of the main doubts of the gasteiztarra coach facing this match against rojillos is in the goal. Unai Simón made his debut on Sunday in this Liga, but he was pictured in the goal that tied Alavés at Mendizorrotza. We will have to wait, therefore, to see if the red and white coach remains firm in his commitment to the international goalkeeper or, on the contrary, if he will once again go to the competition of Agirrezabala.
Athletic’s lineup could look very similar from that to what would be considered its starting eleven. The team, with everyone available and keeping the uncertainty between the sticks, will be like one composed of De Marcos, Vivian, Paredes or Yeray, Yuri; Galarreta, Prados or Jauregizar; Iñaki Williams, Sancet, Nico Williams; and Guruzeta. The lions will enjoy a week off after this match.
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.
