Valverde wants more from Athletic

Ernesto Valverde says he wants more from Athletic Bilbao in the second leg of their Europa League qualifier against Inter Baku, despite Thursday’s 2-0 win.

Javier Eraso had a debut to remember, scoring both of Los Leones’ goals at San Mames to put his side within touching distance of the Europa League playoffs, but the Coach felt his side “played into” their Azeri opponents’ “hands” at times.

“I hoped we’d win by a bigger margin, but it’s a good result for the first leg,” he said after the game.

“The tie is still open. We have a good advantage but not a definitive one. It won’t be easy [in Azerbaijan].

“They play very deep and the worst thing is that we played into their hands.

“We had 14 players on the same line and that’s why the match was rather slow on our part.

"Inter were quite deep and we struggled to break their defensive line, but it was our first game back.

“We now play at Benat’s pace. He found a lot of rhythm in his play.

“It wasn’t an easy match for [Markel] Susaeta and Ibai [Gomez] because there was no space.

“[Eraso] must be happy because he scored two goals on his debut.”

Tags Ernesto Valverde Inter Baku
La Liga - Club News