“It has a lot of merit to play four finals in one year”

Marcelino In the press room at the King Fahd stadium in Riyadh, he highlighted the merit of playing four finals in one year, two Super Cups and two Cups. “We are going to play another final. I am lucky to play four finals in one year. It has a lot of merit. We lost a painful final (against Real) and in another the rival beat us (Barça). Athletic is a super-competitive team. We have fewer points than we deserve in the League”, said the coach.

Now it’s time for Real Madrid next Sunday. The lions have competed in both games this season against the whites but have not added a single point. “We have two recent stories, we played like never before and we lost like always. Let’s see if we are capable of playing at the same level and we have more success because if not it’s impossible”, he said regarding the match against the meringues.

“I think we played a fairly complete match. We haven’t been in trouble. Little by little we gained control, the best chance of the first half was ours, by Willi. The second half was even. Atlético took the lead. In the total count of the game we had clearer chances. In a very tactical game, we were superior in points and deserved the victory”. This has been his analysis of the meeting.

“Our intention was to play the same 90 minutes but Atlético was in front. In the first half we had arrival but less precision and in the second we had more precision. We reacted well after the goal. That gave us the push and the fresh players reactivated us. We don’t change our style of play. In the second half we had four or five chances to score and in the first only one”, he added.

The Spaniard was pleased that his team had recovered their success against the opposing goal: “Victory gives us joy, there were many times that we didn’t find the goal, but not because we didn’t get there. Those numbers have to change, everything returns to a proportional part, now we are more accurate. It’s also important that we came from behind against Betis and Osasuna and we came back from behind today. The team has character and personality and believes in what they do. Athletic’s best moment was between the end of November and December, but we didn’t win. The football of the team is important enough to compete against any rival”, he analyzed.

The one from Careñes has also wanted to reduce the euphoria with respect to Nico Williams. “He has been in the First Division for five games and if we want to make a figure of Nico we are going to be wrong. It would be adding pressure to a 19-year-old boy who has a very good present and a great future. Now he is finding the goal, but the most advisable thing is to go little by little so that he generates solid bases and the capacity to improve to add to his talent, which is evident that he has it. We have to try to make it grow normally.”