Valverde: “We made mistakes and paid dearly for them"

Ernesto Valverde admitted that his immediate asssessment was "not positive" after Athletic Club's 4-0 defeat against FC Barcelona at the Spotify Camp Nou.

The Lions had chances to put Barça under pressure, especially in the first 45, but some major errors at the start of each half helped the hosts to a big win.

"We have to look at how we start matches," Valverde said during his post-match press conferences.

"I think we played quite well in the first half, enough to stand up to them and draw level, but then the match became all downhill for them and all uphill for us.

"We made mistakes and they made us pay dearly for them."

The gaffer bemoaned a "series of setbacks" which Barça were able to "take advantage of".

He continued: "They scored the first goal in the fourth minute. We regrouped, had chances to equalise, and the match was wide open, even though we were playing here and they were ahead.

"Then it was a cascade of setbacks: the goal in the last minute of the first half, the third goal right at the start of the second half, the sending-off... It got worse with every passing minute.

"We had 10 men and were 3-0 down, and things got complicated. The way we started both halves was weak, too weak, and they took advantage of that."

Valverde said Tuesday's Champions League clash with Slavia Prague in the Czech Republic is an opportunity to "start from scratch".

"It will be a very tough, physical match," he added. "It's an important match in the competition. We'll try to recover as best we can from today's exertions, also from a morale point of view.

"We're not happy with how we lost, but we also have to know how to bounce back and deal with these situations."