Athletic Club go into their most important game of the season so far coming off the back of one of their most damaging defeats. However Ernesto Valverde does not believe it will affect Los Leones in their Copa del Rey semi-final against Osasuna.
Going down 3-2 to Girona at home, Athletic struggled to keep pace with therir visitors for much of the match. Valverde said that was behind them though.
“When you lose you have to have a day to wreck your head, it’s like that, it’s what we always have. The bitterness of defeat must be digested, but that always takes a day. The day passed yesterday, now we are thinking about tomorrow’s game. It is another competition, it has nothing to do with it, it is a semifinal with the possibility of accessing a final, but they will be thinking the same thing ”
He was also asked whether he was concerned that Michel Sanchez and Girona had exposed some of his sides flaws ahead the Osasuna match, but Valverde told MD that he was not concerned.
“Each game is a different situation. There is always a reading of how things have gone for us depending on the result.”
“We have done many good things this year. It is a difficult tie for both teams. We are both equal.”
The Basque side will head to Pamplona seeking the win too.
“We are not thinking of a draw, we are not thinking of speculating on the result.”
Athletic will be desperate to make the final for a third time in four years, in an attempt to finally end their Copa del Rey drought. Although they have featured in numerous finals, their last victory was in 1984. Valverde would further extend his excellent reputation in Bilbao with the trophy this year.
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