Valverde: "The crowd will be fully behind us"

Athletic Club head coach Ernesto Valverde is expecting a "good atmosphere" at San Mames when Los Leones take on AZ Alkmaar on Thursday night (21:00)

The Zurigorri side drew 1-1 at Rome's Stadio Olimpico in their 2024/25 Europa League opener on Thursday and are now set to play their first European home match in six years.

"I'm expecting a good atmosphere at San Mames," Valverde said.

"We have been waiting for so long to experience a European game again that I've got a feeling that the crowd will be fully behind us. Hopefully we can reward them and help them enjoy it.

The boss is under no illusions about AZ Alkmaar's quality, insisting the Dutch side is a "great team, very dynamic, with an attacking spirit".

He continued: "I expect them to be at the level we've seen them play. That's why they're doing well in their league and have already got three points in the Europa League.

"We have to try to impose our game in the same way they will try to impose theirs. We're similar teams to some extent. We both try to close down and press high and run when we have space."

Ernesto reiterated the importance of remaining focused for every match of the tournament, regardless of the location or important.

He said: "I think qualification always comes from not making too many mistakes in the matches because there aren't so many of them. Being a short competition, it's important to focus on the game and take every point seriously."

Central midfielder Mikel Vesga admitted Athletic have "missed" playing in Europe and have been " looking forward to bringing this competition back to San Mames"

It's been difficult to get here but in the end we've deservedly managed to come back," he said at the press conference.

"Since the end of last season we've noticed that people are excited about Europe and, of course, we are too. Tomorrow there will be a great party in Bilbao and we're delighted we can enjoy it

Mikel described our Dutch opponents as a "young, daring team", saying Athletic will have to be at their best to overcome them.

He added: "They play well out of defence and attack the spaces. We have to press high like always and be intense.

"If we're at our best, we're going to make things very difficult for them. Our objective is to keep going forward. To do that we have to be at our best, starting with three points tomorrow."