Berenguer keeps Athletic unstoppable and in the Champions League

Berenguer was the luckiest and also the smartest player with two crosses from Yuri Berchiche and Nico Williams in the first half; He scored almost of his own volition when his teammates failed to shoot on goal and his opponents failed to clear the goal. When the score of 2-0 seemed unacceptable, guest captain Oyarzabal made the score 2-1 by deflecting Aihen Muñoz’s unsuccessful shot towards the goal with his chest.

Two forward goals from Navarrese tipped the balance of the match before half-time and ensured Ernesto Valverde’s side had a massive thirteen-game unbeaten run of five wins in a row, with ten wins in between. Three of them are in the Copa del Rey and seven in the league championship, where the ‘lions’ collected 23 points from the last 27.

Additionally, Athletic will remain temporarily in the Champions League positions until this twentieth matchday is completed at the end of the month. Until then, they sit third, three points ahead of Atlético de Madrid and drawn with FC Barcelona, ​​nine points ahead of Real, whose defeat this Saturday greatly complicated the situation. League place via league.

The only positive aspect of the match for the San Sebastian team is that Athletic maintained their goal difference advantage with a score of 3-0 in the first match played at the Reale Arena.

Initially, Imanol Alguacil surprised by opting for Odriozola at right-back; This wasn’t going too badly for him, until San Sebastian native Nico suffered an injury a quarter of an hour after racing for Williams.

At the start, Real looked more focused, even without dominating the game and reaching the danger zone. There were more threats, although not many, from an Athletic team that had not had the upper hand in recent matches.

However, after Odriozola’s change, Ernesto Valverde’s men began to loosen up and roam the territory of Unai Marrero in an unprecedented manner.

Berenguer’s header on a dead ball from Vesga opened the plug on the red-and-white attack, supported by the youngest of the Williamses and the giant Galarreta, who was gradually becoming the master of the midfield.

A drop in the Oyarzabal area marked the halfway point of the first half and had already given the red and whites the lead, which once again showed the strength of Sunday’s 0-3 at Eibar.

In the high rhythm that Athletic was looking for, Nico launched Yuri from the left wing and Gipuzkoan’s center made it 1-0. It was a bit unlucky for Berenguer, whose ball almost crossed the line after touching Zubeldia and Marrero, with the ball heading to Guruzeta at the near post.

Zakharian took a good shot in the penalty area, but made a poor shot with his right foot and the ball went out.

In the next approach Athletic scored the second goal. Sancet found a remarkable break from Nico and the international winger voluntarily scored another goal after a center from Berenguer. Previously, neither Vesga nor Guruzeta could finish the loose ball in the area.

Real had a new opportunity just before half-time when Zubeldia’s shot was poisoned after touching Guruzeta from the edge. But the ball flew high and licked the crossbar.

The second half didn’t give much away, perhaps both teams thought the game was decided at halftime. Despite this, Athletic continued to attack, although without much success, and Real closed in on Simón, again with little danger.

In the last stretch, in the middle of the party and the carousel of changes at ‘La Catedral’, Oyarzabal added color to the game with a score of 2-1 in the 88th minute. The goal of the ‘txuri urdin’ captain with his chest was to deflect Aihen Muñoz’s unsuccessful shot from Magunazelaia’s cross towards the goal. .