Bilbao Athletic

Great start to a promising season?




Things got off to a great start for newly appointed manager Pereira when he led his Bilbao team to an empahatic 3-1 victory over Spanish side Lerrol.

Racing Club de Ferrol S.A.D 1 - 3 Bilbao Athletic (Friendly)

Bilbao Athletic's season started with domination over Spanish side Racing Club de Ferrol S.A.D at A Malata this evening. A brace from Julen Goñi helped Bilbao Ath. to victory. After a great start to the game, Bilbao turned their early dominance into a goal when Young winger Julen Goñi broke tthrough the Ferrol defence to slot it past Manuel into the bottom left corner to give his side the lead. Thing got even better for Bilbao and Julen Goñi when he added his 2nd goal of the game when Mines crossed the ball to the far post for Goñi to slot into the bottom corner.

Despite all their dominance Ferrol striker Marcos Suárez pulled a goal back from a counter, after Goñi had given the ball away in midfield, with a deftly executed finish. But this glimmer of hope for Ferrol ended up being a false hope after Iñigo Pérez re-established Bilbao's 2 goal cushion with a emphatic penalty.

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An interview with the Bilbao manager

Well, what a great start to your career here at Bilbao! A great win for your team.

Yes it was wasn't it! I was very pleased with the way the team played, we had lots of possesion and a very high chance creation rate which is always good. It gave me a good base to work on and with a few more tweaks to the formation and players we should be able to become even more dominant.

Gonis put in a MOTM performance this game with 2 great goals, how did you rate his performance?

I thought he was fantastic! He had great energy taking the ball down the wing, cutting in or crossing as well as his ability to track back and help out his fullback. Hopefully he can build on this in future games.

After seeing your team play for the 1st time today and having seen them in training is there any areas that you feel are in need of strengthening or changing?

No, not really. Every position has good quality players in them with good backups that can push for places. It's fantastic to have such a strong squad.

Thank you for taking the time to talk to us

No problem


Match Highlights:

Demolition by new manager.


Bilbao Athletic 5 - 0 A.D. Alcorcón (Friendly)

Underdogs Bilbao Athletic pulled off a superb result today with a 5 - 0 win over Segunda División side Alcorcón. The highlight of the game was undoubtedly a superb hat-trick from Bilbao Ath.'s Urko Vera.

After a crappy start to the game from both sides, it was Bilbao that managed to break the deadlock, young centre-back Jonás Ramalho managed to give Bilbao Ath. the lead with a fierce shot in the 30th minute after playing a clever 1-2 with fellow team mate Perez. Things got even better for Bilbao when striker Urko Vera doubled their lead with a close range finish which was timed impeccably on 32 minutes.

Noticeably shell shocked by fluid pass and move football, Alcoron could must no response and fell even further behind on 38 minutes. Bilbao's Urko Vera added his 2nd goal of the game with a tidy finish on 38 minutes. Things got even better for Urko Vera when he earned the match ball with his 3rd goal of the game with a well timed finish from close range on 66 minutes.

The rout was completed in the 75th minute when young Bilbao striker Isaac Aketxe scored the 5th of the game with a real poacher's effort on 75 minutes.

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An interview with the Bilbao manager

Another great win against a top side! You must be delighted?

Yes I am! We went into the game confident we could beat them and we showed the great talent that we have in the squad with the large win. We showed that this season we will be a team to be feared.

Vera picked upo the match ball today with a fantastic hat trick. How did you rate his overall performance?

He was brilliant. He was a constant threat going forward for Alcoron and linked up well with his team mates throughout the match. Hopefully he can build on this performance for the upcoming season.

How do you feel about the upcoming season? Are you confident that you can gain promotion to the Segunda Liga and help your parent club Athletic Clubby developing their players?

I'm feeling great about it to be honest. From both of the games I've seen a team of players more then capable of beating top teams and playing good football doing it. I hope that the can be rewarded for that style of play with promotion that can in turn help Athletic out on the whole.

Thank you for taking the time to talk to us

You're welcome.

Highlights of today's emphatic win shortly...