Athletic – Barcelona: Yeray: “It was a shame the dismissal of Valverde, he is a fantastic coach” | Copa del Rey 2019

Yeray Alvarez (Barakaldo, 1995) has only played twice against Barcelona in San Mams. A victory (that of this year in the League, with the Chilean of Aduriz) and a draw draw his statistic in two duels in which Athletic did not grant a goal to his rival. With the courage that the streak continues, the center will be this Thursday a key piece in the hard defensive work that awaits the group of Gariz Gaizka. It remains to be seen if Athletic plays with four or five backs, but it seems clear that one of them is Yeray.

It is often said that the Cup is special for Athletic. What does that mean?

It means, above all, that it is our clearest option to be close to a title, which is the dream of any child of Bilbao and Athletic and more for someone like me, who has lived this story since childhood, this way of seeing the football A title is the dream of any Athletic fan, also the mo, and the Cup is the competition in which we have more options to achieve it.

They come from overcoming two consecutive sets of penalties. Is that luck?

That of luck … If you don't try, you don't get it. Against Elche we were almost the whole game with one player less and that is not easy, even if it is a rival of Second or even if it had been Third.

Garitano said after the Elche game that he had been shown to be a very chaste team.

Of course. In all the games we play we see our claw and our strength. Against Bara too.

It seems that, sooner or later, Bara always sneaks into his path to thwart that dream. There are seven crosses in 12 years and he has always lost Athletic, including three finals.

The Bara is one of the best teams in the world, if not the best. And if Bara doesn't appear, Madrid will appear, which is just as good. In the end you have to face these teams and beat them if you want to win the Cup. I prefer to think that, by touching us now, we will have a 'coconut' less in the semifinals if we achieve victory.

Is a relief, as central, the loss of Luis Surez?

Well … In the end, anyone who comes out is going to be a challenge for us. It is true that Luis Surez is not, but playing Griezmann ah or Messi will. It is no small thing …

What changes have you perceived in Barcelona since the arrival of Setin on the bench?

They are playing the ball more, they give many more passes. They play more in their own field and with the vocation of moving the ball from side to side with a lot of speed. We will have to counter their virtues and try to get ahead on the scoreboard, hold on to our people and become strong in our area. In any case, we have to worry more about how we are going to play and we know how we want to do it.

Does it benefit them for their style that they are now more positional and less backlash?

Maybe yes, but when they move you from side to side with the ball they tend to open more spaces in your defense. They force you to be closer together, more focused. We are aware that if we catch them in some counterattack we can harm them, either with Williams or with whoever plays above. We have fast players to hurt them on the back of their defense and that must be our strength, our main weapon.

Did I understand the removal of Ernesto Valverde?

Ernesto was the one who made me debut in Athletic, I have to thank him for everything. It is a shame, because he is a fantastic coach who knows how to handle very well any situation he has to face. But well, if Bara has decided to make the decision to replace him, it was because they understand that it was the best for the team. Do not give more laps and also is not something I should get into.