Match Pack: Levante UD vs Athletic Club (LaLiga MD14)
Match Pack: Levante UD vs Athletic Club (LaLiga MD14)
Everything you need to know as the Lions return to LaLiga action on Friday with a clash in Valencia
After a two-week international break, Athletic Club are back in LaLiga action. On Friday night the Lions will take on Valencia-based outfit Levante UD at the Estadi Ciutat de València.
Athletic are eighth in the table at the moment and a win will help them keep the pressure on their rivals for European qualification, especially as Los Rojiblancos are two points off sixth-placed Rayo Vallecano and have a game in hand.
Levante will be tricky opposition. The ‘Granotas’ (which means ‘Frogs’ in English) are 19th in the LaLiga Santander standings and without a win so far in 2021-22, so they’ll be desperate to pick up points and avoid being dragged into a relegation battle.
Match info
Levante UD (Matchday 14)
Ciutat de València (Valencia)
LaLiga Santander 2021-22
Friday November 19, 21:00 CET
How to watch
Make sure you don’t miss Friday’s match with our tailor-made list of LaLiga TV operators and global kick-off times around the world.
Team news
Marcelino has called up a 23-man squad for the trip to Valencia. In defence, Iñigo Martínez is back after serving his one-match ban for the red card he picked up against Real Sociedad.
Midfielder Oier Zarraga is back in the squad after recovering from a calf injury, while striker Asier Villalibre also returns after putting his hamstring issues behind him.
Defenders Dani Vivian and Yuri Berchiche remain in the physio’s room, although the latter has started to do some light training again recently.
Marcelino’s comments
Marcelino stressed the importance of using Friday’s match as an opportunity to get over the defeat against Cadíz CF. The Gaffer also said that Athletic can’t afford to take Levante lightly, despite the Valencian outfit being winless all season, stressing “there is no such thing as a small enemy” in LaLiga Santander.
Click here to read the rest from Marcelino’s pre-match press conference.
The opponents
League position: 19th
Form over last five LaLiga matches: DLDLL
Last match: 2-1 loss against Deportivo Alavés (A)
Head coach: Javier Pereira
Javier Pereira had mostly worked as assistant until replacing Paco Lopez as Levante manager in October. A well-travelled coach, in addition to his work in the domestic game, Pereira has had stints in China (Chongqing Lifan, assistant manager; Henan Jianye, manager), Israel (Maccabi Tel Aviv, assistant manager) and England (Fulham & Watford, assistant manager).
What’s more, this is not Pereira’s first spell in the dugout at the Valencian club. He spent two years there as assistant manger to Juan Ignacio Martinez from 2011-2013. In 2011-12, the duo led Levante to sixth in LaLiga, securing European qualification for the first time in the club’s history.
The following season they reached the Europa League round of 16, where they were knocked out by Russian side Rubin Kazan after conceding two extra-time goals in the away leg.
Star man: José Luis Morales
Known as ‘El Comandante’, Levante’s captain Jose Luis Morales is now into his 10th year at the club after joining their reserve side from Fuenlabrada in 2011.
The forward, who can play on either wing or behind the striker, has become a talisman for his team. Skillful and capable of scoring spectacular goals, the 34-year-old is regularly cited as being one of the most underrated players in the division.
Morales has scored a total of 53 goals in 232 matches since making his top-flight debut in 2014-15. He achieved a career-best return last season with 13 strikes in 38 appearances, and already has four goals to his name so far in 2021-22.
Previous meetings
Athletic Club have made a total of 15 trips to Valencia to face Levante UD in LaLiga. The Lions have been particularly successful on their recent trips to the Ciutat de València, registering four wins, two draws and just one loss since the 2013-14 campaign.
Last season, Athletic had to play two matches in quick succession at the Ciutat de Valencia, following up a 1-1 draw in LaLiga with a an emotional 1-2 victory in the second leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final, Alex Berenguer’s 112th-minute strike seeing the Lions progress to the final.
Raúl García bagged a brace as Athletic picked up a 1-2 LaLiga win in the 2019-20 campaign. The striker’s first was a well-struck half volley inside the box, while for his second he expertly scooped the ball over an unrushing Aitor Fernández to double the Lions’ lead.
