Athletic Bilbao come into this game having played the Copa del Rey Quarter Final away against Real Betis mid-week. A late goal from Juanmi in the 84 minute put the home team in front, before Raul Garcia rescued his side in the 4th minute of injury time to extend the game into extra-time. After two scoreless halves of extra time, Athletic beat Betis 1-4 in the shootout to qualify to the semi-finals.
Valencia had no game mid-week and their most recent game was a narrow 1-0 win at home against Elche. The header from Daniel Wass from Guedes's cross would be the only thing separating the two teams for the game.
Athletic Bilbao are 11th in the league with 24 points from 20 games while Valencia are currently 14th with 23 points from 21 games
FORM (all competitions)
Athletic Bilbao: WLWWW
Valencia: WLLDW
SQUAD
Cillissen is currently training and should be available within 1-2 weeks.
Diakhaby, Mangala, Cheryshev are out with injuries. Gameiro hasn't been cleared to return following the positive COVID test.
The three new signings: Ferro, Oliva and Cutrone have all passed the PCR tests for COVID and are available for selection. It remains to be seen if any will start/ play a role in the game. It has been reported that Gracia mostly practiced using the same 11 that played against Elche.
FIRST HALF
15' - Vallejo drives the ball forward from midfield on the counter-attack and successfully finds Guedes in a wide position. Guedes puts in a low cross to the near post which is flicked back by Vallejo to Maxi Gomez. Unfortunately, he gets it tangled between his legs and cannot take a shot.
18' - Wass finds the overlapping run of Correia. He delivers the cross to the center of the box and Maxi attempts to strike it on the volley. The shot is wide.
28' - Racic plays a long diagonal ball aimed at Correia. Gomez heads it to help it reach its destination before getting into the box himself to meet the cross and head it. Again, it's wide of the target.
43' - Goal for Athletic Bilbao. Guillamon puts the ball past his own keeper in an attempt to deny the cross from reaching Inaki Williams at the far post.
HALF-TIME
Half-time stats. 1-6 shots, 0-1 shots on target, 47-53% possession, 78-81% pass accuracy
Quite an unfortunate end to a decent half. The own goal from Guillamon was against the run of play and the only chance at goal by Bilbao for the entire half.
Athletic dominated the first part of the half, pressing really aggressively and forcing Valencia to play rushed passes or long clearances that cost them possession. They got forward many times but had difficulties delivering the final ball, partly due interventions from the Valencia defense but also due to key absences in their team.
Valencia got the majority of chances at goal with well executed counter-attacks. Unfortunately, the finishing left a lot to be desired as none of the shots hit their mark. Valencia was looking like they had figured out how to break down the opposition defense. They drew out their midfielders and found spaces behind them. At the end of a counter-attack, the Bilbao keeper played the ball out quickly starting one for his own team and the final ball was put past Jaume by Guillamon. Guillamon simply had to get a touch there as Williams was lurking behind him and would've surely scored. The touch wasn't the right one though and gave the home team the advantage going into half-time.
SECOND HALF
50' - Williams muscles Correia away and delivers a cross into the box, picking out Sancet in space. He takes a touch and shoots at goal but Jaume manages to save and get back up quickly to claw the ball away from danger. Great work from Jaume.
51' - Yellow card shown to Berenguer for a rough challenge on Guedes
52' - Wass gets a header on Gaya's cross but it's just over the cross-bar. Good, quick response.
64' - Double change for Valencia. Wass and Vallejo are replaced by Musah and Cutrone
65' - Goal for Valencia! 1-1! Gabriel Paulista loses his defender and scores with a header from Soler's corner
67' - Musah with a brilliant individual run from his own half, all the way to the opposing box, leaving defenders in his wake. He opts to go for the shot himself at the end but cannot hit the target.
68' - Substitution for Athletic Bilbao. Unai Lopez replaces Sanset
69' - Double change for Athletic Bilbao. Vesga and de Marcos on, Morcillo and Vencedor off.
73' - Yellow card shown to Inigo Martinez for tripping up Musah
74' - Double change for Athletic Bilbao. Ander Capa and Balenziaga are replaced by Lekue and Berchiche
78' - Jaume with a quick ball out to begin a counter-attack, finding Cutrone in an advanced position. Cutrone picks out Gomez in space and with defenders scrambling to get Gomez, Cutrone gets the ball back. He takes a shot but cannot hit score as the ball is cleared off-the-line.
79' - Yellow card shown to Soler for dragging down Unai Lopez to deny the counter-attack.
86' - Musah and Correia team up on the right flank before the latter puts in a cross into the box. Guedes gets a shot but its deflected off a defender. Racic strikes the loose ball on the volley but it flies over the crossbar.
89' - Final change for Valencia. Alex Blanco in, Goncalo Guedes off.
90' - Three minutes added by the referee for stoppages
FULL-TIME
Full-time stats. 11-15 shots, 2-2 shots on target, 51-49% possession, 76-79% pass accuracy.
Valencia will walk out of this game surely being the more disappointed of the two teams. With the amount of chances they had against an exhausted opposition, it is unfortunate that they couldn't come out with all 3 points. The three points would've put Valencia over Athletic Bilbao in the league standings, although the latter still have a game in hand.
Valencia's next game is on Sunday February 14th away from home against Real Madrid.