‘Athletic weren’t superior to Levante’

Ernesto Valverde conceded Athletic Bilbao “weren’t superior” to Levante in Sunday’s dramatic 2-2 draw and questioned the “fairness” of his side’s comeback.

Goals from Inigo Lekue and auxiliary striker Mikel San Jose snatched a point for Athletic at the death to keep Los Leones six points behind Villarreal in La Liga’s fourth and final Champions League berth with only three matches remaining.

“I have mixed feelings. This wasn’t one of our better games,” the Coach said after the game.

“We drew at the death after we had trailed 2-0 to a team who were playing for their lives.

“Our objective all season has been to qualify for Europe, but it won’t happen if we play like we did [on Sunday].

“I don’t know how fair this draw was because they were playing for their lives and dropping these two points have made it very difficult for them.

“We weren’t superior to Levante, that’s the truth.

“[On moving San Jose into attack], it was our only chance of getting a goal back.

“[Levante] got everyone behind the ball. We got the goal and that’s good, but I don’t know if it’s a long-term solution.”

Tags Ernesto Valverdev
La Liga - Club News