Valverde: “This is the decisive part of the season”
Valverde: “This is the decisive part of the season”
Valverde made it clear the team "must avoid complacency" and maintain the same mentality as in previous fixtures
Athletic Club head coach Ernesto Valverde said that "winning is vital" as the Zurigorri head into the final stretch of the 2022/23 LaLiga campaign.
With nine matches left, Athletic currently sit in 7th place and will be looking to close the gap on Villarreal as they get set to take on UD Almería at the Power Horse Stadium this Saturday (16:15 CEST).
"We go into the game on the back of two consecutive victories. It's good, but we have to be aware that winning is vital," Valverde said in his pre-match press conference. "We have to avoid complacency and focus on what we have done to win, as this is the decisive part of the season.
"We're going to play four games in a very short space of time and lots of things will be decided. We have to approach it as if we had same need to get points as in previous matches."
Although UD Almería are 17th, they have an extremely strong home record and Valverde warned it would be a tough match.
He said: "They're a very solid team at home. They have taken more points at home than we have, they are difficult to beat. I also think they're the best team in LaLiga in terms of attacking strategy."
Ernesto also took the opportunity to dedicate a few words to Mikel Balenziaga, who announced he will leave Athletic at the end of the season.
"He's a very special person for all of us here," the gaffer said about the left. "I've coached players with more talent than Balenziaga from a technical point of view, but players with his drive, his level of concentration, mental strength and empathy with the rest of his team-mates... always seeing the positive side of things, I haven't coached many like that. It's not easy to find. Mikel has always had that mentality, whether he played or not.