Ernesto Valverde has described Athletic Bilbao’s Copa del Rey trip to Espanyol on Wednesday as a ‘precious opportunity’ to reach another final.
Los Leones are bidding to reach their first tournament decider since 2012, when they challenged Atletico Madrid for Europa League glory, yet could only scrape a 1-1 home draw in the first leg of their Copa semi-final with the Catalans three weeks ago.
“We’re excited. It’s an opportunity, a precious opportunity, to reach a final,” the Coach said at a Press conference.
“We’ll go [to Espanyol] with all our fans behind us, hoping we can experience another final.
“[On Carlos Gurpegi], the semi-finals are better than doctors, everyone seems to regain fitness really quickly.
“[Aymeric Laporte] isn’t doing well. He’s had a fever so I’m not going to risk him. We already did by playing him against Torino and it wasn’t right.
“The team are feeling mentally well. [Espanyol’s extra two days off] isn’t a guarantee that they’ll be in better condition than us.”
