Marcelino: “Athletic were brave”
Marcelino: “Athletic were brave”
The Athletic Club coach was “happy with the team’s performance and work” after earning a valuable point at the Wanda Metropolitano
Athletic Club manager Marcelino García Toral praised his side after their hard-fought 0-0 draw against Atlético Madrid at the Wanda Metropolitano.
In addition to their unbeaten start to the season, the Lions have now kept three consecutive clean sheets. What’s more, they have only conceded one goal in the first five matches of LaLiga Santander 2021-22.
“Every day we train phenomenally well and the team carries that into competitive matches,” Marcelino said in his post-match press conference. “The group works with incredible commitment. It’s difficult to score goals against us. We’ve improved when we’re in a low block and that prevents us from conceding chances and goals. Getting good results also helps us grow with the ball.”
It was a tight match with few chances for either team, Marcelino hailed Athletic’s “versatility”during the match, saying: “We wanted to press higher up the pitch, but Atlético are well drilled and they didn’t let us do that.
“They moved the ball from side to side and that made it difficult for us to take control of the game. The team wanted to steal, press and play.
“We did our best to link up in attack. We were brave and we’re very satisfied with the team’s performance and work.”