Santander League | The Cup takes its toll

Athletic and Valencia prowled for the victory and signed some tables that they take for good. The lions were faced with the game without deserving it and they could sentence, but they spared the rival's life. They've been in frenzy for weeks and maybe that's why they had a very disappointing afternoon, so the point suits them well. In attack there was neither the intensity nor the concentration nor the success of other 'Marcelinian' afternoons. They made a lot of effort to take a little. Man, the cup bill is expensive. The artists Muniain, Raúl and Villalibre were in the stands. Marcelino could not bend his beloved Valencia. He is worried because his Athletic does not finish leaving the goal to zero. His old team found themselves with the blow of an own goal, but they rebuilt themselves, they were brave and they even sniffed victory, but they stayed halfway. Nor is the point bitter, of course.

If against Getafe a match was expected to fail, with wolves crouched waiting for a slip, and that came out as a merry party in search of the goal, against Valencia the afternoon plan was the same. And this time the script was fulfilled. Valencia wanted a low rhythm, they were betting on storing people in the middle and waiting for Vencedor to shiver to jump into Unai Simón's boarding. The transition, initially with Guedes and later with Thierry, was swift. And the lions were not doing badly that strategy either, given the casualties and the busy schedule they have had since they ate the grapes there on New Year's Eve.

The ches threw driving and depth, and were the ones that reached the area, although with timid shots from Maxi Gómez. Athletic gained in defensive aggressiveness as the minutes progressed, but the pieces ahead were stopped, disconnected, as if it had been a long time since they had seen their faces and they had forgotten how to join. The problem is that there was nothing on the bench to improve that offensive desert, because Muniain, Raúl and Villalibre attended the meeting as civilians, due to injuries and punishment.

García Toral has entered Bilbao with a four-leaf clover. When his team seemed more stuck, an action of those that could be labeled as 'Marcelino play' or 'Marcelino's ABC' came out. It was after a shot by Wass at 43. Unai Simón took the ball meekly and before having it caught in his gloves he was already designing the counterattack. They all stampeded, in a transition the most vertical in the world. Morcillo walked in the first third of the field and came out as a sprinter of one hundred smooths, as if driven by some starting blocks in the green. He launched the goal with his long hand and in a few touches the rojiblanco squad reached the front of the opposite goal. He threw a center of those that the Villaviciosa coach loves, from below, with effect. Williams was waiting for her at the far post, but she did not reach her, because in his attempt to clear, Guillamón introduced her in his own door. Athletic became the first team to score a goal without shooting on goal in a whole period. Domènech contributed a strange departure. Curious: Morcillo had gone a thousand times Thierry and this time, his was the good one.

The second part disheveled Marcelino and Gracia's slates. Valencia rolled up their sleeves and went out without complexes for all. Opportunities like snow fell in Madrid weeks ago. If the lions had not deserved to go 1-0, when justice gave him a higher income, he did not know how to make it good and the one who forgives … Victor had a head after another great center from Morcillo's wing. And Sancet, the canterano very soft, failed in the area at will in an action that freed Domènech from the nightmare by sung 1-0. What a stop below! Valencia was taking color and a corner kick, coupled with a rojiblanco slip that made him lose the marks, allowed Paulista to tie in 66 after a superb header. Dani García could not tie him up. From there, the match broke down. It could fall to either side. But the friendly point was for both sides. Friend for Marcelino, the coach who has marked both clubs in the recent era.