Athletic Bilbao midfielder Mikel Rico insists the club’s Champions League exit last week was not such a bad thing.
Los Leones went down 2-0 at home to Porto to confirm their departure from Europe’s premier competition, having taken just one point from their four Group H games.
However, Rico believes it is not such a disaster as it appears at first glance, given the poor start Ernesto Valverde’s men have made to their domestic season.
“I don’t think it’s a disaster being knocked out of the Champions League because we’ve not playing well,” he conceded in an interview with Mundo Deportivo.
“We’ve not been at our best level, although we’ve always believed in what we were doing and what we want to do.
“Right now the only thing we need to think about is getting away from the bottom of the table and it would be a grave mistake to look any further ahead.
“If we can get ourselves up there then we can begin to look at new objectives,” he explained.
