Athletic Club manager Marcelino Garcia Toral has said he is proud of his players following an extraordinary Copa del Rey, as quoted by MARCA.
Marcelino, who took Valencia all the way to victory in this competition in 2019, congratulated Valencia before delving into his analysis of the match.
“First of all, I want to congratulate Valencia. It was an even tie but in the first leg we weren’t at a good level and we paid for it. We went at the game well and we were superior to Valencia in the first half, but a great goal from Guedes decided the tie. He was the most important player.”
Despite this, he did regret his side’s inability to take their opportunities. Without naming him, Inaki William’s one-on-one chance minutes before the decisive goal stands out as a sliding doors moment for the Basques.
“At the start of the match we had clearer chances. In football you have to be decisive and accurate. In the second half we lacked some freshness, we didn’t read the game well and as the minutes passed, we were losing the positional game.”
Clearly disappointed with the result, Marcelino was already looking at ways to deal with the result. He went onto highlight the mentality Athletic must adopt going forward.
“It’s a blow and you have to lift yourself so that you don’t get hit with another. You have to be competitive and try to beat Levante in the league regardless. The most competitive teams always do so at the highest level, no matter which competition it is.”
Finally, he had some words for the long-suffering fans of Athletic. The side from Bilbao are on a 38-year drought in the competition, despite appearing in the final on five occasions in the last twelve years.
“We did everything to make the final.”
“We would have liked to have a final with fans in the stands. Now we ask them to continue supporting us. The team deserves it because the tie was decided by small details.”
Read the comments of Jose Bordalas and the match report.
