Full of confidence before Europe. Four days before welcoming Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, the San Mamés stadium was entitled to a good appetizer with the reception of Atlético Madrid this Saturday evening. The poster was tempting, the atmosphere was great… but the 53,000 spectators present in the bays of the Basque Country enclosure witnessed a disappointing performance, ultimately enhanced by a goal from their team in the last minutes.
Dominant for a long time, Athletic Bilbao first showed why it ranked among the worst attacks in the championship, by only targeting three of its fourteen shots in the match. Guruzeta (11th), Nico Williams (22nd, 76th), Paredes (69th), Sancet (20th, 35th, 71st)…
Constantly, the attempts of the Basques flew far from the cage of the Madrilenians, for their part harmless. Before Alex Berenguer turned into a savior by taking over a good serve from Williams with a sudden left-footed strike from 20 m, unstoppable for Jan Oblak (84th).
An excellent result for Athletic Bilbao, who suffered a big defeat at home against Real Madrid with a double from Kylian Mbappé (0-3). Ernesto Valverde’s men move up to 7th place in the rankings and remain in the race for European places. Enough to fill up on confidence before welcoming Luis Enrique’s men, who, at the same time, made short work of the Stade Rennais at the Parc des Princes (5-0).
