Athletic Bilbao Coach Ernesto Valverde has said the win over BATE Borisov was important for ‘many reasons.’
Los Leones sealed third place in Champions League Group H by virtue of the 2-0 triumph, brought about via goals from Mikel San Jose and Markel Susaeta.
Valverde told reporters after the match that the team weren’t only playing to guarantee their Europa League place, although that was part of the motivation.
“Our goal today was to win for many reasons – to be seeded [in the Europa League], to win at San Mames and to take away the taste of another bad day in the League. Now we want to go as far as possible,” he revealed
“Susaeta and Ibai [Gomez] are important players for us and give us many things. Iker Muniain is fit and [him not starting] was a technical decision.
“[Aritz Aduriz] wasn’t 100%. Guillermo was pretty good – he just lacked a goal.
“We didn’t think BATE would come to attack much. I especially liked [Vitali] Rodionov.”
