“Flying, taking off and stopping balls was missed.” They are the manifestations of Unai Simon at the end of May in a phase in which they could already train in two groups. Murgia's wanted to fly and stop. And he is doing it. In the return to competition, the ‘1’ of Athletic is showing great shape. In these four games he has only been able to keep his goal to zero on one occasion against Betis, but he has signed a poker of performances with a high note. This Saturday against Mallorca he will look for his dozen matches without receiving a goal, as he already did in Son Moix in September.
Thanks to the defensive network devised by Garitano, the holder of Athletic does not have to draw a large number of interventions. But you must be prepared for when they arrive. Microwave oven. Decisive piece. In the last function at the Camp Nou, in the first half he did not have to act. The spider web designed by the technician worked. But in the second he had two good deeds. In one, he quickly fell on top of Griezmann, who was alone. It left him without space and forced the doll to shoot. In the other, he stopped the firing of Vidal and, immediately afterwards, he allied himself with his left post in the rejection hunted by Ansu Fati.
Unai Simon It was also vital for the victory against Betis. With a hand that pulled out Borja Iglesias one on one. Taking the ball off the line in an unlikely way in a shot of Fekir. It was enlarged in the penalty so that Channels throw it out. And, in the discount, he deflected a foul thrown by Fekir on a flight to the squad.
Against Atlético Madrid at home, he made a great double stop against Lodi and Arias, avoiding in the last bars what could have been the 1-2. And in Eibar, he had a great intervention in a lack of Cote and another in an opportunity to Sergi Enrich. Apart from the tangible, it adds the feeling of confidence and competitiveness that it is offering against colleagues and rivals.
Unai Simon It has shown that mentally it is also strong. With this philosophy he faced the return to the League: “We have to adapt, we will be playing during the week … You have to plan a game, play it, win, lose or draw. And what happens, forget it quickly because someone else will come to you. It is a maximum effort that we have to give these months to reach the end of the season and achieve the goal of Europe ”.
So far, Murgia's team has left his goal to zero in eleven league games against Barça (1-0), Real Sociedad (2-0), Mallorca (0-0), Alavés (2-0), Espanyol (3 -0), Villarreal (0-0), Granada (2-0), Eibar (0-0), Real Madrid (0-0), Villarreal (1-0) and Betis (1-0). And he adds two Cups with Barça (1-0) in the quarters and Granada (1-0) in the semifinals. He has been the best lion in games like Valencia in San Mamés, the one in the Villarreal Ceramic Stadium, in El Sadar in Pamplona, the Bernabéu … The League dedicated a video to him a couple of days ago, commenting that his campaign was being “a blessed folly”.
Unai Simon This campaign accumulates 28 of the 31 league games, with 2,520 minutes. He has missed three appointments, one with Leganés in which Garitano He decided to rotate and two for mumps with Celta and Espanyol. The three ended with 1-1, with Blacksmith on call. In exchange, the holder of Athletic has participated in three of the Cup for the expulsion of his teammate in Tenerife. It started with Barça and the coach decided to keep him in the round with Granada. It has been the bet of Garitano and it couldn't be better. “I hope to be at the height of 1,” he released in an interview with MD during the July stage in Germany. Fly and stop.