"Trophies make clubs great and we want another one"

Ernesto Valverde and Óscar de Marcos reiterated that Athletic Club must be ambitious and play without fear as they get set to face FC Barcelona in their Spanish Super Cup semi-final in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The clash between last season's Copa del Rey winners and LaLiga runners-up will take place at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium at 20:00 CET (22:00 in Jeddah).

"The trophies I have won with Athletic are the ones that mean the most in my life. No doubt about that," Valverde said before Wednesday night's match.

"With regard to the Supercopa, it's true that, as it's a smaller competition, it doesn't have the pedigree of the Copa del Rey or LaLiga.

"Before, it was played over one game, then two, now there are also four teams, but it has always meant a lot to us when we've won it.

"We have won it twice in recent year and the one I was involved in was our first trophy in many years. Trophies make clubs bigger, that's what all the other teams here think. We have to do everything we can to win it.

"We're excited about the Supercopa. We've been looking forward to it for a long time. Our intention is to make the most of our chances and try to win it."

First hurdles don't come much tougher than Hansi Flick's FC Barcelona, and although the Catalans' form has dipped a bit recently, the gaffer insisted they're still favourites to win and the Lions will need to be at their best reach the final.

He continued: "It's a tough match against a huge opponent. Barça were cruising and hard to reach in the first part of the season. They haven't gotten such great results in the last month and a half, but they look good and play with a lot tempo.

"We're not the favourites, but we have to go for it, we've come all this way and we're going to give it everything we've got."

Unbeaten in all competitions since October, Valverde promised Athletic will stick to what they know best, which is trying to be competitive in every single match.

"We're feeling good," he said. "We try to approach matches in such a way that we can be competitive in all of them. We have the belief to think we can beat anyone, but the humility to know we have to be solid and at our best to make that happen.

"We're not going to fool ourselves. Every time you overcome a difficult test, you gain confidence in what you do. Everything we've achieved this year has reinforced our belief in what we're doing."

The gaffer is expecting a great atmosphere at the stadium, saying: "We haven't seen too much so far, but we know there will be a lot of people.

"I played my last match with Barça here and there was a great atmosphere. I hope the fans enjoy themselves and that we can put on a good show for them."
 

"We're desperate to try and win another trophy"
 

Athletic Club captain Óscar de Marcos repeated that the boss's message of being humble but brave.

"It's another semi-final and we're excited about the possibility of competing for another trophy," De Marcos said.

"We know we're up against a tough opponent, but whenever your close [to a big achievement] you always feel that sense of hope and excitement.

The full-back admitted Athletic are in "good form" but is also well aware of the dangers posed by FC Barcelona, even if they're slightly out of sorts at the moment.

He added: "Every game and every year is different. This year we played at Barça's ground in the league and couldn't beat them, but we've looked at what we did well and what we did badly in order to improve.

"They're not playing like they did at the start of the season, especially in terms of results, but we're talking about a Barça side with top-class players that can hurt you at any moment.

"We're in good form and we haven't lost for a long time, but we know it will be a difficult match. They're ahead of us in LaLiga, they beat us the last time we played and I don't think we're coming in as favourites."