Athletic Club

San Mames pays tribute to De Marcos, a legendary lion

The captain received a spectacular send-off after his farewell match to celebrate his 16 years of service to Athletic Club

San Mames rose to its feet for our beloved Lion. Oscar de Marcos, a legendary captain, will be remembered as an Athletic Club legend.

He made 573 appearances in 16 seasons, won three trophies and leaves as our second highest appearance maker ever.

The unselfish player departs with the Copa he lifted alongside Iker Muniain last season, his teammates in the Champions League and the heartbreak of missing out on the European final at La Catedral despite a wonderful run to the Europa League semi-finals.

After handing over the captain's armband to an emotional Iñaki Williams, De Marcos received a huge standing ovation from San Mames and his teammates.

Tears flowed in the stands where he will be a fan from August onwards.

The 0-3 defeat to champions FC Barcelona, to whom the Lions gave a guard of honour before the gesture was returned to our captain, was ultimately inconsequential due to the fact there was nothing to play for but pride.

Athletic finish in fourth place with 70 points, after holding off Marcelino's chasing Villarreal. The team has grown and San Mames is revelling in their successes

In fact, they made a brave start to this game. Unai Gomez scored a header, but it was disallowed for offside and a great effort from Nico Williams went narrowly over the bar.

However, the champions were taking the match very seriously and Robert Lewandoski scored two goals, the first a classy chip with great class and the second a true poacher's strike.

The Polish striker's brace hurt Athletic, who almost pulled one back soon after when De Marcos played Maroan through on goal. Pau Cubarsi did enough to get in the way.

Lewandowski was looking to snatch the Trofeo Pichichi out of Kylian Mbappé's hands, but the Lions closed their ranks better.

In the second half, the only threat Unai Simon faced was a Lamine Yamal effort, while Dani Olmo netted from the spot after a lengthy VAR check.

The closest Athletic came to a goal was when a corner richocheted off Cubarsi head and Iñaki Peña tipped it onto the crossbar.

It all meant nothing as the end as thousands of Athleticzales stayed behind at The Cathedral to get one final glimpse of the great Oscar de Marcos, who returned their applause and delivered a moving speech.

Athletic have had an outstanding season and our fans couldn't be happier.