Match Pack: Athletic Club vs RC Celta (LaLiga MD13)

Athletic Club host RC Celta as we look to continue our good form and head into the upcoming international break on a positive note. It's an important match for both teams. Ernesto Valverde's Lions will be hoping to maintain their place in the race for Europe, whereas Rafa Benítez's Celestes will be desperate to claw there way out of the drop zone.

Match Info
Athletic Club vs RC Celta Vigo

San Mames, Bilbao

LaLiga EA Sports 23/24 (Matchday 13)

Friday November 10, 21:00 CET

How to Watch
When and where to catch Friday's LaLiga EA Sports clash.

Team News
Valverde has named a 22-man squad for the match in Bilbao

Yeray Álvarez, Yuri Berchiche and Ander Herrera all remain in the treatment room.

Rául García is back in the squad after recovering from a back issue.

 

Valverde's Comments
The boss stressed that the connection between Los Leones and San Mames will be key to our chances of taking all three points.

The Opponents

Head coach: Rafael Benítez

One of the standout tacticians of his generation, Benítez has been in charge at Balaidos since June 2023. The Madrid-born manager has quite the CV, having coached teams all over the world. His managerial career began in 1995 at Real Valladolid but his first major honours came with Valencia CF, where he led Los Che to two LaLiga titles and a UEFA Cup.

Rafa then moved to Anfield. In his six seasons with Liverpool FC, the Premier League side won an FA Cup and the Champions League. After leaving Merseyside, Benitez had stints with Inter Milan, Chelsea - where he lifted the Europa League - Napoli and Real Madrid.

In 2016, he went back to England to take over at Newcastle United. Benítez couldn't save the Magpies from relegation but brought them back to the Premier League the following season, becoming a firm fan favourite in the process. A two-year spell in China with Dalian Professional was followed by a controversial switch to Everton FC in June 2021, making Benítez just the second person in history to manage both sides. His time at Goodison Park lasted a little under six months.

After almost 18 months out of the game, Rafa was appointed by the Galician outfit this summer.

Top goalscorer: Jorgen Strand Larsen

The 23-year-old Norwegian forward has three goals in nine appearances so far this season, just one strike away from his 2022/23 return. The tall striker kicked off his career at Norwegian side Sarpsborg 08. In 2020, he signed for Eredivisie outfit FC Gronigen, where his 27 goals in 71 matches attracted the attention of scouts throughout Europe.

Larsen joined Celta in the summer of 2022 and made 32 appearances in his first campaign with the Galicians.

Recent form: LDLLD

It's been a difficult start to the campaign for Los Celeste sees them occupy 18th place in the table, while their only win thus far was a 2-3 victory over UD Almería in September.

Nevertheless, Rafa's charges have generally competed well, with all their matches being quite close and just two of their seven losses have been by a two-goal margin or more.

Their most recent outing was a 1-1 draw with Sevilla FC at Balaidos.

Previous Meetings
Our LaLiga clashes with Celta date back to the 1939/40 campaign, when we defeated them 2-4 at Balaídos. In total, Athletic have faced the Galician side 114 times in the top flight, with 60 victories, 24 draws and 30 losses for Los Leones.

We have quite a strong home record against Los Celestes. From 57 fixtures, Los Rojiblancos have won 41, drawn 11 and lost five.

In the last five Athletic vs Celta matches in Bilbao, we've come away with two wins, two losses and a draw.

In last season's meeting at San Mames, Athletic won 2-1 thanks to goals from Iñaki Williams and Alex Berenguer.