Iker Muniain says Athletic Bilbao are fully focused on the Champions League group game at BATE Borisov, despite their poor domestic form.
Los Leones face the Belarus outfit having collected just four points from a possible 18 in La Liga so far this term, but the 21-year-old believes it is something the players must put out of their minds on Tuesday night.
“The team is fine and we can’t wait for the game, although we need to change our mindset as we’ve underperformed in the League.
“However, there is no cause for alarm because we are fully focused on the Champions League and it would lift morale if we were to beat BATE after our recent results,” Muniain told a Press conference.
“Winning always breeds self-confidence so let’s hope we can do it, but we shouldn’t look too deeply into what happened to BATE against Porto [where they lost 6-0]. They have previously shown they are capable of beating the big teams and I’m sure it’s going to be a difficult game for us.”
Despite their struggles in the League, Muniain maintains it is a good thing for the Basques to be involved on two fronts at the moment.
“Playing every three days will help us get out of this bad patch, so I hope we can continue to play three times a week for some time.
“It’s not been the start to the season we were hoping for and it’s true we are in something of a rut.
“We are struggling to finish off our chances so we’ll just need to work that bit harder,” he admitted.
