The stars align. 2021 is the year of the buffalo in the Chinese calendar and the bushy beard of Asier Villalibre wants to make a dent in the spearhead of the Athletic based on goals, which is what is required of any striker. The season just around the corner should be your confirmation. In which you have to step forward because the shadow of Aritz aduriz it is very elongated in a red and white set that is eager for a reference within the area.
The Gernikarra, who turns 24 in September, increased his presence in the second half of last year and now the goal is to go further. Both in minutes and in goals. Villalibre is the point that longs San Mamés. The red-and-white parish, without being in the field, was crying out for more opportunities for the ‘buffalo’. The link with the stands is notorious thanks to the way of transmitting the 20. And all despite having “exploded” at a time when the public has not been able to go to the field.
The target at the end of the Super Cup who led the duel against him Barcelona extension and the iconic trumpet-playing celebration have earned, in their own right, the honor of entering the recent history of the Athletic. Villalibre accumulated 1,907 minutes in the 2020-21 campaign, distributed as follows: 1,590 ’in League, 269 'in Cup and 48 'in the Super Cup. Nearly tripling his participation in the previous year, since in 2019-20 he only played 742 minutes.
There was a before and after as of March. Between the rotations due to the load of the calendar and the bet of Marcelino in the final stretch for the youngest, Villalibre he made a hole in the rojiblanco eleven and finished with 6 goals.
It is true that the forward did not end the season with a good taste in his mouth. He did not score in the last nine stakes of League, in which in eight he started in the initial line-up. He chained 628 minutes without seeing the door. He contributed beyond the goals battling with the rival defenses, stretching the team and he understood with Sancet, but without adding any notches to your service record.
The leap of being the reference in attack of the Bilbao Athletic To be in the first team is a process with a thousand edges. Many have fallen by the wayside in the last decade and Villalibre wants to break the mold. None of the subsidiary's top achievers in recent times has settled in the Athletic. The might of Aduriz, it is true, closed any type of opportunity. Guruzeta signed 18 goals in 2017-18, Sabin did 18 in 2014-15 and William added 12 in 2013-14 and 13 in 2012-13. None of them prospered as a killer. The ‘buffalo’ achieved 23 goals in the 2018-19 season and was also top scorer in 2016-17 with 12 goals.
Williams yes he has settled, although he never became the top gunner of the Bilbao Athletic in a season. It probably would have been in 2014-15, he scored 13 goals in 18 games, but made the leap from the hand of Valverde.
Curiously, in the two most recent campaigns the team's top scorer in Second B he has not been a specific forward. In 2019-20, Black pudding (10), Artola (8) and Sancet (6) topped the list of gunners and in the past they did Artola (10) and Nico Williams (9). All of them will be at the orders of Marcelino This summer, some have been around for a long time, but they will try to do an ant job and distribute the goals among the group if the figure of an absolute killer does not emerge.