Athletic Bilbao midfielder Mikel Rico feels the Basques would be in a good position if they can get something positive from Porto on Tuesday.
Ernesto Valverde’s men take on the Portuguese giants in their third Group H Champions League fixture, having taken just one point so far following a home draw with Shakhtar Donetsk and an away defeat to BATE Borisov.
However, Rico believes Los Leones are still very much in contention for a place in the next stage of the competition.
“It’s an important match and if we get a good result we will then have three games remaining, two of them at San Mames, so we would have a good chance.
“Even if we get a negative result we’ll still have a lot to play for, but a positive one would put us right in the mix,” he told a Press conference.
The former Granada player made it clear the Champions League is still very much a priority, despite suggestions Bilbao may be better off concentrating on their domestic form after a disappointing start to the 2014-15 La Liga campaign.
“I’ve said it in other interviews and I’ll say it again. In the end you compete an entire year to qualify for European competition, so we can’t even think about things like that when we’ve only played two Champions League games and seven or eight in the League.
“They are both equally important. Right now we are facing a game in the Champions League and have to focus 100 per cent on that.
“Only after the match at 11pm will we start to think of the next one against Almeria,” declared Rico, who spoke of the dangers posed by Porto.
“We know they have people up front who are very dangerous, very direct. They get a lot of men forward and we’ll have to take that into account so we play more in their half than our own.
“We also need more of our players to create chances, score goals, so we don’t have to depend entirely on the strikers,” he asserted.
