Athletic Muniain, Villalibre, Ral Garca, Iigo Vicente and Peru are not available in the return to LaLiga
Marcelino, in a talk with the footballers who did not take part in the match against Betis.
Luis TejidoEFE
El Athletic face the cross against Valencia with a call-up of 20 players, two less than those allowed by the regulation. Marcelino and his collaborators had considered the option of recruiting some Bilbao Athletic footballer – Nico Williams was included in the first list that was made public – but it was finally rejected. “We have summoned those who we consider suitable to win the game. We are considering the option of come up some footballer, but Bilbao Athletic had an important game this Saturday afternoon and those who played 90 minutes today on a very demanding field and without any training with us, we prefer not to include anyone on this list“, explained the coach.
The coach has the casualties de Muniain, injured in midweek training; Villalibre, who fell at the crossroads against Betis; Iigo Vicente, affected by COVID-19; Peru, long-term injured, and Ral Garca, who will serve a penalty game. In addition, he must manage the muscular fatigue of the players who played the game and overtime on Thursday with Betis. “The more games you play, the more injury options there are, but we cannot play with fear. We analyze what we have and what we do not do is run. Risks. Iker’s injury was bad luck because it was a high heel in training and we believe that it will not be a very important injury. The rest of the teams also have injuries when you accumulate three games a week and played on different surfaces, “he stressed.
The Asturian has summoned Unai Simn, Ezkieta, Morcillo, Nuez, Iigo Martnez, Yeray, Vesga, Ibai, Unai Lpez, Williams, Berenguer, Dani Garca, Lekue, Sancet, Yuri, De Marcos, Zarraga, Capa, Balenziaga and Vencedor. The team will have changes compared to the one that played on Thursday in the Cup against Betis. “It is not the same to play every three days as every four. That game may have more difficulty than when we play every four days. 52 hours between one and the other is a very short time. We will take the appropriate measures to be physically fit and avoid injury. Do we prefer or do we not prefer to play three games a week in January? I think this is the best possible situation and we are excited about the Cup semi-final, but we have to face both competitions with the spirit of success, “said Marcelino.