Granada CF - Athletic Club

Athletic Club lost 1-0 in Granada on Tuesday night. The result is a major blow to Athletic’s European chances and they now depend on other results going their way.

Alex Collado scored the only goal of the match in the first half to leave Marcelino’s side in trouble. Raúl García struck the post in the 96th minute and Dani Vivian narrowly missed the target with a header moments later.

In a error-strewn match, Granada were better able to take advantage of their chances, and Athletic’s indecision, in order to take home all three points.

In the first half, Los Rojiblancos’ only sniff at goal came via an Unai Vencedor effort. Collado’s goal came in 36th minute, the Granada forward catching Dani García in possession before a quick one-two with a teammate helped the striker finish past Unai Simón.

Marcelino made several changes at half-time, but the Lions struggled under Granada’s intensity in defence. Athletic then went down to 10 men in the 85th minute, subsitute Mikel Vesga receiving a second yellow card.

With Simón going up for corners, Luis Suárez scored into an empty net on the counter-attack in stoppage time, but VAR disallowed it for offside. What’s more, Athletic had a strong penalty shout denied despite Yan Brice Eteki seeming to foul Oier Zarraga in the corner before the ruled out goal. Raúl García’s and Dani Vivian’s chances came shortly after.

The Lions will have to quickly recover from this disappointment and switch their attention to Sunday’s all-important home derby against Osasuna.