The 19th round of La Liga started with the game between Sevilla and Athletic Bilbao. It was an exciting match as Sevilla is the third club in La Liga, while Athletic Bilbao is invincible in away matches.
Pre-match preparations
Sevilla finished the December as the third club in La Liga. The team was just five points away from Barcelona. As you may know, Barcelona is the only leader of La Liga. With 39 points, Blaugrana won the autumn period of the championship.
Meanwhile, Sevilla and Real Madrid are just three points away from each other. Sevilla had a chance to keep up with Real Madrid if they could win the game against Athletic Bilbao
Meanwhile, Athletic Bilbao is a powerful team when playing away matches. Even though Bilbao has only one apart win, Garitano’s players could get six draws. Garitano could play a goalless draw against Los Blancos in the last tour of La Liga. It was impossible at first, but Bilbao has shown the true potential in the final few rounds of Primera.
1st half of the match
Lopetegui started the match with three players in the attacking line. Ocampos and Torres played as the left and right-wingers, while El Haddadi was the center forward. Garitano had problems in the attacking line and decided to start with two forward in attack.
1st half was successful for Bilbao as they could win with one goal lead. Bilbao could score a goal in the 15th minute, and Sevilla could not keep up with a score in the first 45 minutes.
2nd half of the match
Lopetegui started the second half with two substitutions. Spanish coach decided to give a chance to De Jong and Escudero. Sevilla could score the game-tying goal in the 60th minute. Sevilla had a 70% ball possession in the second half but could not score more than one goal. Overall, we saw a good match between two strong Spanish teams that ended in a draw.