Ernesto Valverde was at a loss to explain why his Athletic Bilbao side ‘took a step back’ after drawing level against Real Madrid.
An error by Mikel San Jose allowed Karim Benzema to put Madrid in front but Sabin Merino equalised, only for Benzema to net again a few minutes later and seal the tie.
“Our pressure wasn’t being effective and it could have been 2-0, so we changed it. We took a step forward,” Valverde recalled, AS reports.
“We pressed more with greater conviction. On the next play, rather than continue with this momentum we took a step back.
“We watched them play and out of nothing they scored the second goal. We were swimming upstream then…the step back we took is what condemned us.”
