Athletic Club 0-Real Madrid 1: Played well but still no reward

Athletic Club are up against the wall in the Copa after losing to Real Madrid by 0-1 at San Mamés. Good play and a great attitude were not enough and they deserved better. Although not out the club is facing an uphill battle at Santiago Bernabéu.

The general public’s response at San Mamés was outstanding, the match was declared a club half-day and with a little help from the weather and the match timetable almost 32,000 spectators came to watch the match. The fans applauded the team at the start and at the end of the encounter, which goes to show that the players’ efforts on field were appreciated.

Bertsos were sung prior to the match, but both teams paid little attention to the lyrics and got down to business from the word go. Both teams were keen to score a goal as soon as possible and as a result there was a string of goal-scoring opportunities in the first half for example: Beckham’s foul shot which was repelled by Aranzubia in the 4th minute; Aduriz had a great opportunity in the 7th minute but Diego López was able to deflect his shot at goal; a Baptista header in the 18th minute; a Gurpegi header that went high a minute later; a strong kick at goal by Aduriz from outside the goal area that ended up being a corner in the 20th minute; a shot at goal by Robinho which was sent to corner by Aranzubia; a header that went over the crossbar by Etxeberria, who was on the edge of the goal area, in the 32nd minute; a shot at goal by Guerrero which was caught by Diego López in the 35th minute and an incredibly high shot was taken by Robinho in the 43rd minute. It was great viewing for the spectators as the match was full of tension and fighting spirit that left the second half up for grabs.

Nothing had changed after the break. Athletic Club applied the pressure and made a greater effort in attack while Real Madrid relied on the quality of their players and they were, perhaps, more direct in their approach to the game than they had been on other occasions. Guerrero had another opportunity in the 49th minute, Baptista made Aranzubia outdo himself in the 60th minute, which was followed by Julen Guerrero’s last opportunity of scoring a goal as he was replaced along with Joseba Etxeberria in the 62nd minute by Yeste and Llorente respectively. Shortly afterwards, Zidane stepped in for Soldado but the rhythm of the match remained the same, at least for a few minutes, although this time the players were different: Yeste almost scored from a foul shot in the 69th minute and Llorente took a line shot that missed in the 70th minute. However, a ball which was being fought for by Orbaiz and Guti in the mid-field area bounced in such a way that Guti managed, almost instinctively, to kick a long pass to Robinho who then passed the ball to Beckham who came from behind to score the match-winning goal easily.

The encounter was over as far as Athletic Club were concerned and, the same perhaps could be said for the Copa.

Young Fernando Amorebieta made his debut in an official competition on behalf of Athletic Club despite having already played in the Intertoto and, Aduriz has played his fourth match for Athletic Club, the first of his second season.