Athletic Bilbao boss Ernesto Valverde remains confident ahead of the Champions League game with BATE Borisov on Tuesday.
The Basques have made a disastrous start to the domestic season, having won just once in the opening six La Liga fixtures, but Valverde is taking heart from the fact his team are unbeaten in Europe’s premier club competition this term.
“Despite the crisis we will be playing in the Champions League, where we have not yet lost. We’ve had three games and are happy with how we are doing,” he told a Press conference at the team’s hotel in Minsk.
“Let’s put the crisis to one side for a moment and we’ll talk about it again when this game is over. Winning would be therapeutic, although BATE will also be thinking that so they can put the previous loss to Porto out of their minds.
“Both teams have a chance to win. In our case it would be good for us because of the results we’ve been getting in the League. There are three points on offer and we are obliged to get them in the Champions League.
“However, it will not be easy as we have seen with all the other teams who have come to play here. What worries me most about BATE is that they are coming off the back of that 6-0 defeat at Porto and they’ll want to make it up to their fans.
“Even so, this match is something else, something we fought for last year and continue to fight for this year, so we’ll see if that can inspire us.”
Athletic did not train at the 13,000 capacity Borisov Arena on Monday as Valverde felt his players needed to rest after Saturday’s game with Eibar, which finished at almost midnight.
The 50-year-old also took into account the state of the pitch they will be playing on plus the round trip of almost two hours from the Belarus capital to Borisov on the day of the game.
