Valverde: An historic night

Ernesto Valverde was thrilled by Athletic Bilbao’s qualification for the Champions League and reflected on an historic win over Napoli.

Athletic claimed a 3-1 win at San Mames to progress 4-2 on aggregate against the Serie A side, confirming their place in the competition’s group stages for the first time in 16 years.

Los Leones had to come from behind after Marek Hamsik gave Napoli an away goal, Artiz Aduriz claiming a brace and Ibai Gomez netting late on to turn the game around.

“I felt terrible emotion,” Valverde admitted, according to Marca.

“I was in a privileged position on the bench and it’s an historic night everyone will remember.

“We have to be thankful for living this night and you have to hand it to these players. We’ll hobnob with the best clubs in Europe and play the most prestigious competition in the world.

“And we can lead them to Bilbao and [today] Athletic is in the draw and that’s a great joy, incredible.”

Valverde added that the scenes of celebration following the final whistle continued in the locker room, explaining that the tension at the club had built and the victory was a release.

“It was a complete party. The whole team has been tense during all these months. They were all hugging,” the Coach continued.

“The key was that we continued to do what we usually do, go forward. We didn’t lose faith.

“Unai Lopez has done very well in the game and the responsibility hasn’t weighed him down.”

Valverde was also asked if Athletic will add any new faces now they have a place in the group stage, and he referred to the club’s Basques-only policy in his reply.

“It’s difficult finding players with the philosophy,” he admitted.

“We’ll see, but I’m happy with the players I have.”

Tags Ernesto Valverde
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