Javier Aguirre admitted the importance of Espanyol’s strong start to the season, taking delight in Monday’s win over Athletic Bilbao.
Los Pericos ran out 3-2 winners in Week 5’s closing fixture at Cornella-El Prat, thanks to a double from Victor Sanchez followed up with Sergio Garcia’s match-defining effort.
“I am happy because the team has left everything on the field,” Aguirre commented afterwards.
“And the fans have made an effort for a difficult kick-off time and now they have gone home happy.
“We knew that it would be a very difficult game and at times the opponent was better than us, moving us back and forth.”
Espanyol have moved above Athletic in the table as a result of the win and sit in fifth place, unbeaten.
“The start was key, players do not want a repeat of last year because the experience is still very fresh. We are like the ant, collecting points now for when the famine comes.
“Long-term goals? We have to think about the next game. It’s a cliché, but it’s what we do. Last season we were fine until we started talking about Europe and everything went wrong.”
