Tit for tat

The challenges go to this Marcelino’s Athletic. Yesterday’s consisted of trying to achieve what no one had achieved so far in the League: beat Rayo in Vallecas. The numbers of the team coached by Iraola were there. Of ten home games, eight wins and two draws.

It is true that the lions did not present a bad card as visitors either. Eleven starts with only one defeat (the undeserved 1-0 at the Bernabéu), two wins (Balaídos and El Sadar) and eight draws. The three points harvested this last Sunday where nobody until now had been able to do so serve, among other things, so that the rojiblanco team now presents in its locker greater profitability outside San Mamés than inside. Of the 31 points that appear in the Bilbao box, in other words, 14 are local and 17 foreign.

It was strange to return to Iraola, one of Athletic’s historical figures, as part of the rival side. The usurbildarra lived the duel against the lions, some of them former companions of his, with intensity. He was not satisfied with some of the decisions made by the referee; but he knew how to maintain his composure, poise and sportsmanship that he also displayed inside and outside San Mamés. Rayo, it is true, lost, but Athletic could not claim victory until the very final whistle. The Vallecano approach of the last minutes served to record where this still young coach comes from.

Marcellin’s return

Marcelino returned to Vallecas yesterday, where three seasons ago, as coach of Valencia, he was seriously rebuked by a sector of the local fans. The discomfort of the red and white fans went back to the last match of the 2015-16 League when Villarreal, the team he was managing at the time, lost at El Molinón (2-0), a result that allowed Sporting to stay in the First Division and condemned Rayo to decline. A tweet from the wife of the Asturian coach after that outcome felt very bad among the local fans. Some made it clear again that this episode is not forgotten.

The now coach of the Biscayan team, curiously, this time it was his turn to face the team in Vallecas commanded by a benchmark of the Bilbao fans. Iraola, who in his debut at San Mamés as visiting coach won 1-2, acknowledged that the club he loved was still Athletic, but that once the ball began to roll, his intention would be no other than to leave without the three points to the lions. Said and done.

Marcelino, between the casualties and the accumulated wear and tear after the Super Cup and Barça, had no choice but to dose his strength. His starting eleven included a total of seven changes compared to Thursday’s clash against the Catalans. Nico Serrano, who after the departure of Morcillo to Valladolid is one more in the squad, made his debut as a starter and scorer in the League. Ongi etorri!

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