Marcelino: “It’s an attractive match against Atlético”

Athletic Club head coach Marcelino García Toral said the Lions’ upcoming LaLiga clash with Atletico Madrid in Billbao (21:00 CEST) is an “attractive” prospect given the circumstances of the fixture.

Both sides are looking for three important points towards their respective European hunt. Athletic are four points away from Villarreal in seventh, and a place in the Conference League, while Atlético will be hoping to secure a Champions League spot.

“We’ve worked on being properly motivated in order to start with a strong winning mentality,” Marcelino said at a pre-match press conference.

“There are 15 points are up for grabs. Our goal is to win these three immediate points against a good team who are playing for a Champions League place. It’s a very attractive match, with a good kick-off time and in front of a home crowd that is expecting us to bring them some joy.”

With most teams still playing for something and pushing hard to achieve their objectives, the gaffer is expecting some “surprising results” over the final five LaLiga Santander fixtures.

“The calendar is very tight for all teams and there are games between direct rivals ahead of us,” Marcelino added. “It seemed all our chances had gone after the match against Celta, but the reality is we still have a shot, even more so after Betis’ Copa final victory. We’ll fight with everything we’ve got to win a European spot.”