Ernesto Valverde is counting on Athletic Bilbao’s improved La Liga form rubbing off in their Champions League game at Shakhtar Donetsk.
The Basques are bottom of Group H, having picked up a solitary point from four games, but Valverde is hoping for an improved performance against the Ukrainians after seeing his team win three and draw two of the last five domestic matches.
“The priority will always be La Liga, even ahead of the Champions League, and I’ve always said that,” he told reporters.
“But we are a very together group and to work with these kind of people is easy. We had a very bad run in the League and the Champions League and in terms of results we are now better, so hopefully that will give us confidence.”
The 50-year-old former Bilbao striker accepts, however, that is going to be difficult against a team that can only fail to qualify for the next stage of the competition if they lose both remaining games and BATE Borisov pick up six points.
“We know it’s very difficult to win here and we can’t afford to leave them any space. They are very strong, with a Brazilian attack and a European defence.
“It will be hard to stop them but we will try. They have a good mix so we’ll need to be effective,” he acknowledged.
