Match Pack: Athletic Club vs Deportivo Alavés (LaLiga MD29)
Match Pack: Athletic Club vs Deportivo Alavés (LaLiga MD29)
The Lions are looking for back-to-back wins in LaLiga as they host fellow Basques Deportivo Alaves at San Mames
Basque rivals Athletic Club and Deportivo Alaves meet at The Cathedral. Ernesto Valverde's Lions are fully entrenched in the fight for Europe and will be looking to apply more pressure to Atlético Madrid in fourth place, who are just two points ahead.
The Gasteiz-based outfit sit in a comfortable mid-table position, 10 points above the drop zone, and will be gunning for three more points as they look to secure an easy run-in.
Match Info
Athletic Club vs Deportivo Alavés
San Mames, Bilbao
LaLiga EA Sports 23/24 (Matchday 29)
Saturday March 16, 21:00 CET
How to Watch
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Team News
Valverde named a 22-man squad for the clash.
Ander Herrera and Yuri Berchiche are out with hamstring issues, and Aitor Paredes is suspended for accumulating five yellow cards.
Defender Unai Egiluz has been called up from Bilbao Athletic as cover.
Valverde's Comments
Catch up with what he had to say at his press conference.
The Opponents
Head coach: Luis García
The former RCD Mallorca manager took over at Mendizorrotza in the summer of 2022, taking club back to LaLiga via the play-offs that same season. In the second leg of their play-off final against Levante, Asier Villalibre, on loan from Athletic, scored the crucial penalty in the ninth minute of stoppage time to take Alaves back to the top-flight.
Alaves have played 82 matches under Luis García, winning 35, drawing 24 and losing the other 23.
Top goalscorer: Samu Omorodion
On loan from Atlético Madrid, Samu has scored nine goals in 27 appearances for Alaves so far this season.
Recent form: DDDLW
An upturn in form after the winter break, which included a run of three consecutive wins in January, saw Alaves calmly move away from a potential relegation battle. They beat Rayo Vallecano 1-0 at Mendizorrotza in their most recent outing.
Previous Meetings
Athletic and Alaves have faced off 35 times in LaLiga since their first clash back in 1930/31. The Lions' record against their Basque rivals stands at 22 wins, seven draws and six defeats.
The Zurigorri have the upper hand when it comes to matches in Bilbao having won 13, drawn three and lost just one of 17 encounters at San Mames.
Alaves' last five LaLiga matches at The Cathedral reflect Athletic's superiority, with Los Rojiblancos having picked up two three wins and two draws since 2018.
Athletic ran out 0-2 winners in this season's reverse fixture in Gasteiz. Iñaki Williams put the Lions ahead after 18 minutes and Oihan Sancet sealed the win in the second half.