Marcelino: “When you take a blow, you have to pick yourself up”

Marcelino said his Athletic Club players need to keep moving forward in order to fully recover from the Copa del Rey final loss.

The Lions took a stride in the right direction on Wednesday, taking home a point from the Reale Arena only a matter of days after the final defeat.

After the match, Marcelino admitted it had been a psychologically difficult game to play, but reiterated he was proud of Athletic’s response given the circumstances.

“When you take a blow, you have to pick yourself back up,” Marcelino said in his pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday’s LaLiga Basque derby against Deportivo Alavés at San Mamés (16:15 CEST).

“The team is getting better every day, we can’t say they’re completely back to normal, but the performance in a complicated match against Real Sociedad on Wednesday was good.

“I’m happy because we recovered certain aspects of our game that make us competitive. We have to talk less and work together to the best of our ability.

“We’re trying to make sure the path back to being fully competitive is as short as possible. But we took the first step in San Sebastián.”

A second consecutive LaLiga Santander Basque derby and a return to Bilbao gives Marcelino’s charges a chance to properly turn the corner, especially as the match against Alavés is the last fixture before the 2020-21 Copa final with FC Barcelona on April 17.

Alavés currently sit dead bottom of the LaLiga table, but with a new manager in the dugout, they’ll be looking for a reaction of their own.

“We have to concentrate on our own game,” Marcelino said. “We have to correct the small mistakes that have been costing us points.

“We should be able to do enough to win this match.

“Without a doubt, we would’ve preferred to play against the former coach. Simply because the analysis work we’d done might have to change now with respect to the tactics of the new manager.

“I’m sure they’ll be feeling the pressure, but at the same time they’ll get a boost from the new manager’s arrival.”

The LaLiga Santander derby clash with Deportivo Alavés takes place on Saturday April 10 at 16:15 CEST, here is a global tv guide to make sure you don’t miss out.