Levante UD - Athletic Club
Matchday 36
Liga

Levante UD - Athletic Club

Levante UD
Levante UD
12
Athletic Club
Athletic Club
  • 70' Bardhi
  • Raúl García 4'46'

LocationCamilo Cano , La Nucía

Crucial win to continue dreaming

Another brace from Raúl García brings Athletic back into the fight to enter the continental tournament

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Athletic Club have defeated Levante 1-2 at La Nucía, what allows them to continue dreaming in their fight for a European spot. Another brace from Raúl García shaped the lions’ win, who will have to give their all against Leganés and Granada. An essential victory given the situation and the number of injured players that were not able to travel to Alicante with the team, which speaks volumes about the whole squad.

Things tend to go really well for Raúl García in his fixtures against Valencian sides. He had scored a brace at Mestalla to bolster Athletic’s chances to qualify for a European competition, and now he was doing the same against Levante at La Nucía. What better gift for the club in his 34th birthday! The Navarre footballer, who has eleven goals in his tally, scored the 0-1 really early, on 3 minutes, after an arrival in the box from De Marcos, who made the assists for both goals. He beat Aitor Fernández with a dry right-footed short-range shot. A similar play carried out by both players took place later, but this time Raúl’s shot was misdirected.

Apart from the yellow card shown to Iñigo Martínez, which will not allow him to play against Leganés, there was no bad news in the first half. Quite the opposite, since the 0-2 arrived in extra time before the break. De Marcos set up the goal for Raúl García, who scored with a fantastic chip.

Athletic played comfortably in the second half. They threatened with shots from Raúl García and Vesga, but it was Bardhi, after a play from Mayoral, who made it 1-2 on 70 minutes. Maintaining a defensive order was enough for the hosts. Iñigo Martínez missed a ball by an inch, after a corner kick taken by Unai López, but scoring another one was not necessary.