Couldn't have fallen better Marcelino Garcia Toral at Athletic club. Three games, one title. Specifically that of the Spain Supercup, after beating nothing more and nothing less than Real Madrid and Barça, the leading teams in Spain.
It is not something that catches the Asturian coach new. Two years ago, when he was still coach of Valencia, Marcelino frustrated Valverde, and almost sentenced, in the final of the Copa del Rey, that it was the end of the cycle of a team that had just fallen asleep at Anfield against Liverpool.
Marcelino He is a strategist, he is one of those method trainers, highly valued among his colleagues for his knowledge of the rival and the study he does. And nailed it again. Forced the Barça to play at a slow pace, not being able to combine on the inside and dried it up, almost without opportunities, trying to squeeze the steals. Not as much as Valencia, where they had better quality players in the transition, but enough to keep the Barça behind pending.
Double pressures, suffocating Messi and plugging those inside lanes. The only weakness, and that he accepted, was to give some advantage to Jordi Alba, who took advantage of the two who arrived freer, but in the rest he was very marked.
At the end, Marcelino takes another cat into the water and puts in his pocket all the fans of the Athletic, which has gone from seeing them black to celebrating a title like the Super Cup. Not so bad.