Ernesto Valverde admitted he was “concerned” by Athletic Bilbao dropping points for a second game running after Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Granada.
Adalberto Penaranda’s late equaliser cancelled out Inigo Lekue’s opener to consign Athletic to just one point out of a possible six, preceded by a defeat to Valencia in the Europa League, and Valverde was left to rue another failure to see a match out.
“It’s certainly a shame because we dropped two points. It wasn’t in our hands, but it was close to being so,” the Coach said after the game.
“[On his side’s failure to get into the Granada box often enough], it wasn’t a question of fitness. We pressed them, but we didn’t at our usual level.
“We controlled the game entirely but didn’t end up killing it off because we didn’t create chances to score the second goal and were exposed to an [isolated] situation.
“In the first half, we had chances to go into the break with a bigger lead, but when you don’t close a game, instead of feeling encouraged, you begin to worry that an accident can happen, which is what happened.
“The game would’ve been ours if we put them under more difficulty, and it’s a concern that we’re dropping points.”
