Unai Simón: “The season does not end here”

Goalkeeper Unai Simón reminded all that Athletic Club still have a lot to play for in the 2021/22 season, urging fans and players alike to put the Copa exit behind them and focus on the battle for European qualification in LaLiga Santander.

The Lions have a game in hand and are currently seven points off Real Sociedad in sixth place. Simón said it was pivotal the team gives everything it has in the race for Europe over the upcoming 12 LaLiga fixtures.

“Getting knocked out of the Copa was tough, but enough time has passed to digest it, get over it and focus on Monday’s game, which is our only priority right now,” Simón said at a press conference ahead of Monday’s clash with Levante UD at San Mamés (21:00 CET).

“We have to recover physically and mentally. We love the Copa, but now we’ve been knocked out the season doesn’t end here. If we keep focusing on the fact that we’re out of the Copa and we don’t turn the page, all we’re doing is shooting ourselves in the foot. These are things we have to learn in professional football.

“We still have 12 games left and our goal at the start of the season was to get into Europe. At the moment we’re seven points away from sixth place. In the remaining games we have to turn San Mamés into a fortress and give it our all when we go away.

“We’re starting at a disadvantage, but we have to be ambitious and have a winning attitude. If we’ve had it so far, we need it even more so now.”

Despite the bitter blow of missing out on a third consecutive Copa final, Simón pointed out the side’s recent form, saying: “We have to be aware of how well we did last season and how we’re doing this season. We’ve reached four finals, including winning the Spanish Super Cup last year, and this year we got to the Copa semi-finals.

“Of course, in this moment we can only see what we’ve lost, or that we didn’t win the trophy so we’re so desperate for. But with time we’ll realise how important and how great we’ve made this club by getting through the previous knockout rounds.

“It’s nice to win, but we’ll always appreciate the excitement there was among the fans and in the dressing room, and eventualy we’ll see that what we’ve done is not easy to do.”

Simón also spoke about what he expects to see from Levante UD on Monday night, the Valencia-based outfit are currently bottom of the table.

However, they are unbeaten in their last three fixtures, which includes a win over Atlético Madrid, and Athletic’s goalkeeper warned they will be difficult opponents:

“They have a lot of momentum despite being in the relegation places. They play very direct football with quick, decisive strikers.

“They’ve been very unlucky with many of their results, but they play a very attractive game and they’re going to push us, especially defensively, as they’re very attack-minded.

“We will have to withstand their attacks and take advantage of their weaknesses in defence to win.”