Athletic Club will travel to Anoeta on Wednesday night (21:00 CEST) knowing they have to overturn a 1-0 first-leg deficit against Real Sociedad. Txuri-Urdin enter the match as favourites, facing an Athletic team missing Nico Williams, and fighting for consistency, although the gap between the two legs is gentler for them than La Real.
Ernesto Valverde has confirmed to MD that Nico Williams will not be fit to play, while Yuri Berchiche and Aymeric Laporte were suffering from discomfort before the game, and will be late decisions. On the other hand, Matarazzo explained to Diario AS that Orri Oskarsson will not be in the team as he continues to recover. Ander Barrenetxea and Luka Sucic are ready to play for an hour. Both managers appeared to indicate that reserve goalkeepers Alex Padilla (Athletic) and Unai Marrero (Real Sociedad) would start in goal.
‘I don’t care if the game is long or short’ – Ernesto Valverde
Regarding their approach, Valverde was not thinking about how he wanted the 90 minutes to feel, but rather the plan he wanted his players to execute.
“We don’t care if it’s a long or short game, we just want to come back. You never know how the game will go; your prediction can change in a minute, and it’s better to look at it as a game you have to win. If you don’t concede any goals, you just have to score one, and if you concede one, you have to score more. The match will be long, or short 0.”
Similarly, El Txingurri didn’t seem too concerned about the prospect of dropping two goals on aggregate.
“Now it’s not the same as before, with the away goals rule. Now if we concede two, we have to score more goals than the opponent. We will try to win the game and I don’t expect a close game. We will do everything we can to win. It is true that throughout the season there were better games and worse games, but as a whole we will try to be at a high level.”
‘We have the right level of tension’ – Matarazzo
Pellegrino’s opposite player Matarazzo was happy with his chances before the game, and he seemed happy to see it in training.
“What I feel is really good energy, the right level of intensity; we can’t be too intense if we can play an important game. We need to be a little more relaxed in the way we move and play football. We need a good balance between excitement and relaxation, and full focus on the game.”
The former Bundesliga boss asked his players to focus on the next game rather than managing the game as a whole.
“I think we need to focus on what we have to do. We don’t focus on the final result; we focus on winning every duel, every pass, every situation in the game. We want to take it one step at a time, and that’s how we’re going to build strength. That’s how we manage our pressure and how we improve our style of play.”
“You have to play smart all the time. It’s part of our job to prepare the game and manage the way the players think, clarity and concentration is important. But it’s not only thoughts, the heart is also important. It’s a good mix where, in all games, we have to always strive for strength and strong communication.”
Real Sociedad’s progress under Matarazzo
Upon Matarazzo’s arrival, La Real went on a nine-match unbeaten run, which ended after defeating Athletic in the first leg. He was asked if the case he is releasing tomorrow is better than the one from the first leg.
“I think as we progressed, yes, we took some steps back, like the loss against Real Madrid or the draw with Oviedo, which felt like we lost, but we responded well in Mallorca, and now we have good energy again. We brought players back, and I think we are in a good moment.”
“We worked on all phases of the game: attack, defense, setting pieces… We focus on different things, and you can’t train everything every week. The important thing is to revisit the same topics every week. We still aim to defend well, and we didn’t concede a goal in the last game. We have to keep working, pay attention to the details, and review it regularly.”
The two teams have met three times this season, and Real Sociedad have come out twice, once in Anoeta and in San Mames in the first leg. Los Leones salvaged a point in the second league meeting in Bilbao in late February.
