“It’d be the icing on the cake after an extraordinary year”

Ahead of the evening training session (6.30pm) at Lezama, after which the matchday squad will be confirmed, Gaizka Garitano spoke to the media at midday in the press conference held prior to Athletic’s last 2019 league match, where they will face Real Madrid tomorrow (9.00pm) at Santiago Bernabéu.

The red-and-white coach, despite the difficulty their opponents present, has expressed his confidence in the side’s possibilities to apply the finishing touch to 2019, a great year in stats under his management: “We are really excited, it’s been a very good year for us and what better way to end it than winning at Bernabéu. That’d be the icing on the cake after such an extraordinary year, so we must have ambition to compete and enthusiasm to spring a surprise.”

As for tomorrow’s opponents, Garitano has given his view on Real Madrid: “They have one of the best squads in the world and I think they are on their best run of form of the season. It is all about taking advantage of the few weaknesses they have and make the most of our virtues.” According to the red-and-white manager, Madrid have changed some aspects of their game in the last few months: “They apply more pressure in the final third and take greater risks at playing the ball out of defence. We must watch for the spaces at the back they may leave as a result of their positional attack and try to make good use of our opportunities. Last year we didn’t do it but they did. It’s really hard to keep a clean sheet at Bernabéu, so taking points there is extremely complicated if you don’t score.”