Valencia CF - Athletic Club

Athletic Club was defeated 2-1 by Valencia CF in Mestalla. Aduriz has been the author of our team’s goal and Mina and Santos scored the local team goals. Despite the defeat, having the advantage of the 1-0 of San Mamés allowed our team to get through the next round. It’s the seventh time in Athletic Club’s history to win a place in the quarter finals of an European competition. It is not an usual circumstance, so it is satisfying.

As soon as Mina scored the game became an uphill struggle, and before the half time interval Santos’s header left the round with some doubts. In spite of a couple options for Athletic, Valencia has been bossing the match until the break.

Even if in the second half Athletic had a bigger domination of the game, they had a hard time creating chances on goal, so the round was on heads or tails since Valencia had bigger spaces on the pitch. Fortunately, Aduriz scored assisted by Raúl García.

The last fifteen minutes were full of suffering, but this time defending their achievement, being in the draw of the last eight survivors of the competition, which are together with Athletic Club: Shakhtar, Braga, Sevilla, Villarreal, Liverpool, Sparta Praga and Borussia Dortmund.