On Saturday at 9pm CEST, Athletic Club and Osasuna will face off in a Basque derby at San Mames. The visitors have nothing to play for aside from pride, whereas Los Leones can close the gap between themselves and Atletico Madrid to three points, in the race for the final Champions League qualification spot.
An interesting dynamic for the match-up is that neither side will have their manager in the dugout at San Mames. Both Ernesto Valverde and Jagoba Arrasate were sent off last weekend (vs Getafe and Real Betis respectively), and as reported by Marca, the Competition Committee has dished out two-match bans to both coaches.
As a result, their respective number twos will be leading the teams on Saturday. They also aren’t the only personnel to be banned for the match, with Yeray Alvarez and Aitor Paredes missing for Athletic Club, and Jon Moncayola unavailable for Osasuna – they were all also sent off last weekend.
