Javier Aguirre had to admit that Sunday’s surprise 4-0 win at Athletic Bilbao was a ‘significant step forward’ towards Espanyol’s hopes of survival.
The Catalans ran out convincing winners in the end at San Mames to leapfrog their opponents into 13th position in the table.
“This is an important step towards survival. In the first half we were fortunate to go in ahead, as Athletic had had the clearer chances, but we were stronger,” Aguirre summed up at the end.
“Since the storm passed at 0-1, the team strengthened. With the score in our favour we were smart to handle the pace of the game.
“This is a significant step forward towards staying up, but with 28 points no team has avoided relegation.
“Today is a good day, but tomorrow we return to work. The players are very committed, they believe it will happen and every Sunday they go out to win.
“They can win or lose, but the team is playing consistently. And their mentality is strong, which is very important.”
