Athletic postAduriz sets out to conquer the European plaza

Athletic shielded itself yesterday in San Mamés in the general rehearsal for the return to competition next Sunday against Atlético. The break came when he was in a good moment, with the classification for the Cup final in his pocket and in the phase of 'escalation', if the term is allowed, towards the European positions via League. But along the way he has lost Aduriz, his most influential player of this century, the emblem of the last decade. A hip injury keeps him from football. The donostiarra will carry out his recovery in Lezama, next to his companions.

Aritz leaves the club as a last service with a fabulous Chilean on the first day against Barcelona. Between Williams, Raúl García and the young Villalibre must make their absence bearable. The first two are, together with Captain Muniain, the offensive basic pieces of a team rebuilt by Gaizka Garitano from defense and solidarity to give him the same competitive muscle as always. The third, Villalibre, is one of the two footballers that Garitano recovers after overcoming a back injury from which he was about to reappear when the break came. The other is Oscar de Marcos, who during the confinement met the deadlines for recovery from the ankle injury that has had almost the entire season off.

Garitano must clear if the return is going to wrap it in a 5-3-2, a system that has ensured success after a very long stage without victories, or prefers not to squeeze as much to the sidelines and goes to the 4-2-3-1. In the first week they will receive Atlético de Madrid and Betis in San Mamés and in the middle they visit Eibar in Ipurua. In that immediate journey, Athletic wants to start reducing the four-point disadvantage with seventh place, occupied by a Valencia that has already won in Bilbao, which is what they want to achieve to be in Europe next year.

Thinking about higher seems to be precipitous before the 8 points in which he is ahead of the sixth, Atlético, and the 9 in which he exceeds the fourth, Real Sociedad. Because it also has ahead, although only one point, Villarreal and Granada. The Nasrid team, incidentally, evokes Athletic the unforgettable Copa del Rey semifinal with Yuri as hero. The best moment of the season along with that last goal of Aduriz as a lion and another with Williams as executioner of the Messi team in quarterfinals of a Cup whose final will be played next year so that there is an audience in the stands.

It was precisely this postponement that left Athletic with no European ticket options waiting for it to be able to get it via Liga. And that is his goal for what will be the post-Duriz era. Unai Simón is the starting goal clearly. Capa and Yuri will not be displaced from the lanes, while Yeray and Iñigo Martínez will be at the rear of the lane, with Núñez sometimes reinforcing that plot more. Dani García is untouchable in contention, with Vesga or Unai López of possible partners. And on the attack front, depending on the system, Muniain, Raúl García and Williams are the fixed. Córdoba will continue to have options and Ibai and Larrazabal will fight for them. Like Villalibre. With so many games in a row, there will be minutes for everyone.