Tribal Football

Athletic Bilbao coach Valverde expects close battle with Real Betis

Carlos Volcano
Athletic Bilbao coach Valverde expects close battle with Real Betis
Athletic Bilbao coach Valverde expects close battle with Real BetisLaLiga
Athletic Bilbao coach Ernesto Valverde expects a battle on Sunday against Real Betis.

Valverde says he's always had a lot of respect for Betis counterpart Manuel Pellegrini.

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Unai Simón's progress:

"Yesterday he did some goalkeeping, not that he did the whole training session. Next week is a bit complicated because we have two away games. We'll see. He'll try to progress in terms of what he'll do with the team. He has good feelings and we'll see if we can count on him after the break. We shouldn't get ahead of ourselves, but having three good goalkeepers is always a plus and it's not a problem. Padilla has also given us great performances."

 

The type of match he expects:

"Betis is also a team that likes to win the ball back in the opposition half and they do it well. They have fast players up front and they run well into space. We have to take them into account and be careful when we go out. They have had important absences, but they know how to change players and the absences are not noticeable because the replacements are of quality . The players they sign are always of a high quality and consistently give very good results."

 

Pellegrini's value:

"After so many years and so many confrontations, it is clear that he is a very high-level coach, a coach who likes to give his team quality, good inside play, and attacking play. It will be difficult for us."

 

The power of San Mamés:

"It's still early, but our intention is to become stronger and make it clear that we are a difficult team to beat. We want to have that identity at home and go for the game. Betis is not speculating either and there are incentives to see a good game."