Unai Vencedor has won the title in Athletic’s double pivot. Without excessive media noise around him and with a clearly upward trajectory since his arrival in the first team, the Rekalde midfielder happens to be one of the fixed in Marcelino’s line-ups. At 20 years old (on the 15th of this same month he turns 21), the middle of the rojiblanco team accumulates 47 matches as a lion.
The spotlights pointed to Muniain at the end of the Anoeta derby last Sunday and the Navarrese captain, in another good game for his part, came out as a highlight for the vast majority of the media. From the inside of Lezama, the satisfaction transcended beyond the good performance offered by the captain and a good part of Marcelino’s team. Unai Vencedor’s progression in Athletic’s midfield has continued to rise since the start of this campaign.
The Bilbao footballer begins to bring out the hierarchy that he made clear in his years of the Junior Division of Honor and Bilbao Athletic after joining the rojiblanca entity from Santutxu. Mitxelo, president of this popular and modest Bilbao club, was the one who insistently warned those then responsible for the Athletic quarry to ‘sign’ Vencedor because Betis was not going to do it. The name of Villarreal also sounded at that time as a possible destination.
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With Juvenil A, as soon as he landed from Mallona, the now footballer of the first team played a total of 35 games. His quality and knowing how to be and do in the wide area allowed him to make the leap to Bilbao Athletic without previously going through Basconia. In his first campaign with the subsidiary, 2018-19, he took part in 36 games. The next it was 27.
Gaizka Garitano, who knew him well from his time at Bilbao Athletic, made Vencedor debut at the age of 19. The lions received Osasuna’s visit on February 16, 2020. A goal from Oier gave the rojillos three points and the new player of the first team crashed a ball into the crossbar from a direct free kick, one of his specialties as well as corner kicks, although he has barely put it into practice since It is part of the first template.
After going down to Bilbao Athletic again, the rojiblanco half did not become part of Athletic de Primera until the following season. First he had his Garitano options. Later it became one of the means most used by Marcelino in the always questioned double pivot.
Winner is so far the lion that accumulates the most minutes in the central tandem of the Bilbao team’s midfield. He and Dani García are, so far, the preferred couple for the Asturian coach for this demarcation.
The improvement experienced by the young Athletic footballer this season is worthy of mention. More after his great performance last Sunday in the Anoeta derby. Winner kept the type at the level of containment, he played the ball with discretion and with hardly any losses at the time of the pass and was encouraged to be seen in more advanced situations. Something similar to what was seen a few days before in Cornellà against Espanyol. That day he was very close to making his debut as a scorer, but his shot from outside the area went slightly off the track, hitting one of the goal posts defended by Diego López.
-Specific weight-
This 20-year-old average young man is gaining weight little by little in Marcelino’s gear. On a physical level, he looks more complete and with a greater capacity to travel the field and pressure the rival. In terms of football, he is more confident in his possibilities, he hardly rushes when combining and begins to show part of the impudence he transmitted in his time at Bilbao Athletic.
He still lacks the offensive joy of those years in the rojiblanco subsidiary, but neither does he give the impression that the Asturian coach is going to allow him to risk more than necessary. Winner, and that is good news for Athletic, it will go further.