Athletic Bilbao coach, Ernesto Valverde knows what he’s talking about when he assesses Barca’s strength, because he himself coached the team for two and a half years. In a press conference today, he acknowledged that it will be very difficult for his players to win tomorrow.
‘It’s a difficult course for Athletic, because Barca have been very strong at home in recent years, and that doesn’t just apply to us. Barca are strong on their own pitch because of the way they play. The statistics are not to be mistaken. It is a team that we have a hard time against away from home. We can’t deny that,’ told Valverde.
Still, he sees opportunities in Sunday’s game.
‘It’s a good opportunity for us to end a bad run. We must try to take advantage of our opportunities to get the three points. We must maximize our own strengths and minimize theirs. There will be periods when we feel bad, but we have to see if we can’t bring something home,‘ he continued.
Valverde did not attach much importance to the fact that Barca are affected by several injuries. ‘Barca are a fantastic team and even though they have significant cancellations, there are really good players who will be playing tomorrow’ he concluded.
The statistics are on Barca’s side before Sunday’s meeting with Athletic Club Bilbao, because the Basques have not succeeded in winning at the Catalans’ home ground since 2001, despite a total of 28 attempts.
Bilbao is a feared opponent at home at San Mamés, but when it comes to the Basque’s visit to Barca’s pitch, it looks completely different. Here, Barca has a massive upper hand with 23 wins and 5 draws in the last 28 games between them in Barcelona.
