As we approach the business end of the club football season, Athletic Club find themselves just a few games away from a European final at home. They have also been on for their joint best La Liga finish since 2013/14. Does this season have a happy ending for Bilbao?
Background – Local DNA
Since 1912, Bilbao has had an unwritten rule that it only signs players from the Basque country or those who have come through an academy within the Basque region.
There are over 30 towns in the Basque region, including Bilbao and San Sebastian.
The club’s motto describes its reasoning for promoting local talent: “Con Cantera y afición—With homegrown talent and local support, there is no need for imports.”
Their local talent has produced some iconic players over the years, including Jose Iribar, Bixente Lizarazu (the first non-Basque player to play for the club), Ander Herrera, and Iker Munian.
Tactical Analysis – Valverde’s 4-2-3-1
Ernest Valverde sets his Athletic Club side up in a 4-2-3-1 formation; however, they build up in a 1-4-4-3 formation, which allows them to control possession in deep areas and gives the central midfielders a more advanced role between the opposition lines.
Valverde sets them up to allow quicker and more transitional play.
Occasionally, they use a 1-4-2-4, which adds unpredictability to the attack. This pushes the number 10, usually Oihan Sancet, into a more attacking role while the wingers play closer to the striker—creating an interchangeable front four. Sancet can also drop deep to help the build-up.
Athletic Club also uses a high backline, as during the counter-press, they are much closer to the midfield, making it much more difficult for the opposition to do anything when they win possession.
La Liga Brilliance
Athletic Club is fourth in the La Liga table, six points ahead of Villarreal in fifth place, and on course for Champions League qualification.
They have only lost one of their last ten league matches, a 1-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid.
Europa League Hopes
The 2025 final takes place at the San Mamés Stadium, the home of Athletic Club.
Los Leones won six of their eight league phase matches, with the only defeat being a 4-1 defeat away at Besiktas.
A top 8 finish meant automatic qualification to the last 16, where they faced a Roma side on the revival under Ranieri. The sides had drawn 1-1 in the first league phase match back in September.
Bilbao lost the first leg 2-1 after substitute Eldor Shomurodov came off the bench in the 93rd minute and gave Ranieri’s side the advantage. It was a match in which the away side was reduced to ten when Yeray Alvarez was shown red in the 85th minute.
Needing a big performance at home to keep the chances of European home glory alive, Valverde’s side was given a massive lifeline when Mats Hummels was shown a straight red for denial of a goal-scoring opportunity.
Big moments called for big players to perform, and the Basque’s star winger Nico Williams certainly did step up, with Europe’s biggest clubs chasing him this summer.
A Europa League triumph could be the perfect goodbye, and two goals to fire the home side into the quarter-finals helped that. His goals came between a Yuri Berchiche strike and Paredes striking a late spot-kick for Roma.
Bilbao won 3-1 on the night and 4-3 on aggregate.
Next up for Los Cachorros is Rangers, who made the final back in 2022, where they lost to Frankfurt on penalties.
The Spanish side will fancy themselves in the tie, as they look to set up a semi final with Lyon or an underwhelming Manchester United side, who they knocked out in 2012 at the last 16 with a 5-3 aggregate win.
Athletic Club went on to reach the final that year, could history repeat itself and these group of players make themselves club legends?
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2025-04-10 09:28:57
