The traffic jam on Athletic's right side is obvious. A position very well covered after passing the cut in the preseason Álex Petxarroman, to whom Marcelino reserved the number of the first team (number 2) after convincing him of his versatility and ruling out a loan in the SmartBank League. He can also act as a central or defensive midfielder, although he was hurt in the last stretch of the preseason. Ander Capa started the course in Elche in the last phase of his meniscus injury, seasoned by a blow, and De Marcos he suffered from his muscle injury, so Iñigo Lekue, again, came to the rescue.
Lekue can act in any of the four corners of the field, although in theory, and with Yuri Berchiche's pubalgia operation on the left side, his mission in this first month of the League was to compete with Mikel Balenziaga down the lane of 3. However, faced with the hole in the right hand, he has patched the position with sufficiency and receives his prize. Marcelino García Toral himself joined the list of 22 men drawn up for the last match against RCD Mallorca with the four right-backs already ready, although it revealed that Lekue had earned the wage based on his previous performances against Celta and Barça: “When the team wins, competes well and shows a high level of performance and is a footballer without reproach, active and motivated, there are usually not many changes,” he acknowledged. Said and done. The versatile deustoarra winger played the 90 minutes against the Balearic team without leaving options, not even in the rotation of the changes that he decreed during the game, to his three teammates. The three are eager to enter the fray, especially in the case of Petxarroman, signed this summer from Sanse, who is expected to test in the elite, and the powerful Ander Capa, a life insurance, who come out of their respective injuries without having started this course.
LaLiga Santander
* Data updated as of September 13, 2021
Both were substitutes in Vigo against Celta and this past Saturday in San Mamés, where the brave Oscar de Marcos sneaked into the cause again, dodging some discomfort in the adductor area and also opting to rival Berenguer in the rightmost. It will be necessary to see how Marcelino manages this extensive list of opponents to the position of 2 for this month, starting with the stake on Saturday in the metropolitan Wanda. Nobody gives in, starting with Lekue, often criticized, but always compliant and with touches of his talent.