Valverde: "This win is an immense joy for everyone"

Athletic Club head coach Ernesto Valverde admitted to being overjoyed by the nature of the Lions' 2-1 win over Real Madrid at San Mames on Wednesday night.

Goals from Alex Berenguer and Gorka Guruzeta, between a Julen Agirrezabala penalty save and Jude Bellingham strike, saw Athletic pick up a third consecutive win.

"It is an immense joy for everyone. These are three very important points and they give us even more confidence in what we are doing," the gaffer said.

"We're fighting to be as high up the table as possible. Our aim is to try to maintain what we did last year with the added weight of another competition."

When asked about the high number youngsters in the starting eleven, Txingurri replied: "You get experience by playing. There were young players on the pitch, but they all would have improved a bit after this match."

Regarding Julen Agirrezabala's save from Mbappé's penalty, Valverde said that "perhaps Athletic are one of the teams with the best depth at goalkeeper in the world, with Unai Simón, Julen Agirrezabala and Alex Padilla".