Valverde: "It's important to maintain this level of ambition"

Ernesto Valverde was delighted with Athletic Club's 0-2 win over Sevilla FC at the Sánchez-Pizjuán on Thursday evening.

Mikel Vesga put Los Leones ahead with a brilliant first-half header before Aitor Paredes sealed the deal with 15 minutes left to go.

"We're happy. But we have a lot of work ahead of us," Ernesto Valverde said at his post-match press conferences."We want to build on the confidence this win has given us and keep adding to it."

"It was important to start the year like this. We came here to play our own game, which is to try and dominate, and for the most part we succeeded. We're doing well. It's important to maintain our level of ambition."

Despite the positive form, Ernesto called for calm heads. The Lions have a tough, busy month ahead, starting with Sunday's Copa clash against SD Eibar, and the boss said his players need to keep their "feet on the ground".

He said: "We have a Copa match away from home coming up. Where we are the halfway point of the campaign shows we're doing well, but now it's time to start from scratch, overcome new obstacles and not let ourselves get carried away."