In Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's first game in charge, Besiktas delivered a 4-1 win on Wednesday night, leaving Valverde rocked.
Many problems:
“We are the same team as three days ago. We faced a team that outclassed us. We suffered a lot when they ran into space. They needed the win, there was a moment when it was even, but in the second half we had a lot of problems.
“We had a hard time getting the ball out because the pitch didn’t allow it, these are things that help our players grow. There was an extraordinary atmosphere in the stadium. We never imposed ourselves in the midfield, they were better than us today.”
Athletic's fault or Besiktas's merit?
“When you see that the opposing team has surpassed you, there is little you can do. They were stronger than us and it was difficult for us. They are a great team, there have been times when we have been above great teams and we have beaten them. It is true that the result is heavy, but we have to accept it.”
Worst game of the season?
“I don’t know, obviously when you lose 4-1, it’s the first game we’ve lost by that difference. We’ve played against all kinds of rivals and today they beat us. In Europe, we play hard, we have a lot at stake. I would like to have the same face in every game, but that can’t always be the case, this has to serve to learn what is at stake.”
Goal average:
“It hurts because we are a team that always tries to move forward, when we are losing we attack. We have lost the perspective of being able to sustain ourselves in the match. The goal difference is important and we have lost our way a bit, they caught us on the counterattack and we have lost many positions.”
Weaknesses:
“When you concede four goals, something has gone wrong. They took advantage of our weaknesses, and all we can do is congratulate them and improve on those issues. We were up against a team with good players and a good coach. In a match, the goal is to make your virtues more visible than your flaws. Sometimes flaws are covered up with results, but ours cannot be covered up because they conceded four.”
Bad start to 2025:
“We are out of the Super Cup and the Cup, and we have to play in the Europa League next week. We have not started the year well in terms of results. Sometimes a bad result makes you look back and give credit to what you have done.”
First place:
“I don’t know if we lost it today, our intention is to finish as high as possible. We want to finish in the top eight, we have been qualifying for a long time. We lost today and we don’t like it, but on Thursday we have another chance.”