The rojiblanco eccentric Joaquín Caparrós I used to talk about strikers “forwards”. And this is how Athletic de Gaizka Garitano this season. By tacadas. With the defeat (1-0) at the Camp Nou, the third best collection round of the Lions league season closed. Eleven points for the cause after three wins and two draws. In the one where the cash register rang the most, the Bilbao squad accumulated 13. Using the expression that Utrera's also uses … To the mess.
Athletic started the campaign with six consecutive days without falling. Sandwiched three wins and three draws to get a dozen points. The Derio coach's troop defeated Barça (1-0), Real (2-0) and Alavés (2-0). And he signed tables with Getafe (1-1), Mallorca (0-0) and Leganés (1-1). English stocking. Triumphs at home and matched at home. In that initial stage they always set foot in the European zone. The lowest position was the sixth and, the highest, the first, on the fifth competitive date.
That great outing of tacos was followed by four games with three defeats against Valencia (0-1), which ended the previous streak, Celta (1-0) and Atlético de Madrid (2-0). And a draw (1-1) with Valladolid. One point out of twelve possible. What supposed the descent until the tenth position of the classification.
The rojiblancos recovered then with the best sequence of results of the current soccer exercise. They rescued the victory against Espanyol (3-0) and also beat Levante (2-1), Osasuna (1-2) and Granada (2-0). The tables were added (0-0) with Villarreal. Thirteen points to the box. Traced to fourth place in the table.
But there began the biggest desert journey of the season. The defeat with Betis (3-2) with the famous hat trick of Joaquin in the first twenty minutes of the game he marked a descending line. Ten consecutive games without winning. In addition to falling with the verdiblancos, they also did it with Getafe (0-2), Real (2-1), Osasuna (0-1) and Alavés (2-1). These four, in addition, were followed after the five tied consecutively with Eibar (0-0), Real Madrid (0-0), Seville (1-1), Celta (1-1) and Espanyol (1-1 ). Qualifying reverse to eleventh place in the classification.
Those of Garitano they were reborn on the twenty-sixth day, beating Villarreal (1-0) to open a series of five games without falling, with three wins and two draws in that batch. The victory against the yellow submarine was joined by those achieved against Real Valladolid (1-4) in the last game before the break due to the coronavirus and the recent one with Betis (1-0), which ended up costing employment to Ruby, the green and white mister. In between, the two ties with which the lions returned to the competition in this Covid-19 de-escalation football with Atlético de Madrid (1-1) and Eibar (2-2). Eleven points. Practically installed in tenth place, three of the seventh looking to get the ticket for Europe.
Now, it's time to start a new account. Mandatory if you want to stay alive in the continental fight. Despite not bringing anything in the Camp Nou suitcase, the rojiblanco club, in the chronicle of its website, remains with the positive aspects. He points out that “the games in which Barcelona passed over Athletic were over … It was a defeat with honors, with a good overall score … The rojiblancos deserved to get a point. You have to beat Mallorca to try to hook the European train.