Athletic seeks the extra prize

Athletic faces tonight’s game against Espanyol (RCDE Stadium, 9 pm, with refereeing by the debutant Ortiz arias) in the best possible way, after two consecutive wins against Alavés (1-0) and Villarreal (2-1). With only three days to spare, the rojiblancos visit the parrots with the aim of achieving their third consecutive victory, something that would almost be a milestone in recent times. The Bilbao team has not achieved it for two years, when they linked three games won between the 13th and 15th days of the 2019-20 season. On that occasion, those led by Gaizka Garitano gave a good account of Levante (2-1), Osasuna (1-2) and Granada (2-0) between November and the beginning of December 2019.

We were recently looking forward to two wins in a row. Now there is the possibility of adding a third, a sign that things are going quite well.

The set of Marcelino goes through a good dynamic. The 22-day break has not affected at all as it was demonstrated on Saturday against Villarreal and now it is about taking advantage of this inertia to continue climbing in the classification after having added 16 points out of 27 possible, almost 60% . In addition to the solvency and solidity shown in previous commitments, the team showed that it can also play football well, with a very good first half hour against the Yellows, until the tying goal came from Coquelin.

Strong at home

Espanyol will not make it easy. The parakeets come from adding a draw on their visit to Elche, but at home they are showing themselves to be a very reliable team. After drawing against Villarreal and losing against Atlético in their first two home games, they have three consecutive wins against Alavés (1-0), Real Madrid (2-1) and Cádiz (2-0). The backpack is being filled at the RCDE Stadium, with 10 of the 13 points that reflects its classification.

The last time the lions had three consecutive league victories was almost two years ago

There is another piece of information that plays against Athletic. The Bilbao team has not won on the Espanyol pitch since January 11, 1998, thanks to a goal from Julen Guerrero. That team was led by Luis Fernandez and the rest of the eleven was formed by Imanol Etxeberria, Larrainzar, Rivers, Carlos Garcia, Alkorta, Larrazabal, Urrutia, Alkiza, Joseba Etxeberria and Urzaiz. In the second half they came out Javi gonzalez, Mikel Lasa and Ziganda. This alignment offers an idea of ​​the time that has passed. Since then, Athletic has added 8 draws and 14 defeats in the 22 visits made to the Blue and White team. It is therefore time to break this disastrous statistic in the displacement that resists the most.

The rojiblancos achieved their last league triumph at Espanyol’s home on January 11, 1998 with a goal from Julen Guerrero

Marcelino He announced that he will make changes to his starting eleven taking into account that they have played three days ago against Villarreal and on Sunday we must visit Real Sociedad in Anoeta. It seems that the Asturian coach will make quite a few modifications based on what he hinted yesterday, although the last time he opted for a massive rotation, against Rayo Vallecano of Andoni Iraola, nothing went well. His team lost with a goal of Falcao in the 95th minute. It was the worst game played by the lions in the 2021-22 League. “They go nine days and in eight we have offered a good level,” said the Asturian after winning on Saturday. Today is about the team resembling the one that defeated Villarreal to continue adding three at a time.