It would be the third victory in the rebound for Athletic, and coach Gaizka Garitano is looking for his first victory over Real since taking office in 2017.
Athletic Club would try to beat Real Madrid
Athletic Club seeks to pull off frustrating and beat Real Madrid to increase their chances of playing in Europe next season. It would be the third victory in the rebound for Athletic, and coach Gaizka Garitano is looking for his first victory over Real since taking office in 2017. “We have a tough match against the best league team, a team that boasts the best squad and organization on the field,” said Garitano. “Unfortunately, the fans cannot join us, we said that it would be a great party if they could join us, but we still feel their presence without them in the stadium.” The Athletic manager was also asked about his thoughts on football after the pandemic.
The squad physicality is critical
“After the suspending of football, the games were indeed more equal. But we need to be prepared since Real Madrid have won all their games since the restart,” Garitano confirmed. “They are also excellent at the back and have barely conceded since the restart. But if we can take our expectations, we can cause them problems”. During the resumption, where many games are played in a very few days, the depth of the squad and its physicality are critical. “Unfortunately, we have doubts about tomorrow, and that will become apparent when the team is submitted, but we have been training very hard in the last few weeks. The players have been very responsible,” said Garitano.
Athletic still has a chance to play European football next year, just two points from bitter opponents Real Sociedad in the final Europa League spot, and there are only five games to play. “We are not favorites for qualification,” Garitano explained. Real Sociedad looks good, and Valencia looks like they are recovering from a shock, but we are in the battle; we need to focus on the remaining five games and look at the table after that.”