Valverde: Difficult to regroup after CL

Ernesto Valverde was delighted with the way Athletic Bilbao knuckled down following their Champions League exertions in midweek.

Athletic on Wednesday beat Napoli to seal a place in the Champions League group stages but had to go again quickly, playing Levante last night.

They responded with a 3-0 win and speaking to reporters after the final whistle, Valverde revealed he was concerned with the match prior to kick-off.

“The game had its ups and downs and you have to give credit to the team because I had a lot of concern after Wednesday,” Marca reports the Coach as saying.

“It was difficult to come down to Earth after Wednesday. The players had a lot of respect for this game.

“Focusing properly on the match is the hardest thing. It’s why what I liked most was the team faced [the opposition] and overcame the ups and downs.

“Levante could have complicated things and now we will try to recover, but that won’t be difficult as we have time.”