Ernesto Valverde

"Now we have to get up after a blow that has been ugly for us. You can lose in many ways, but when you lose 4-0 to rest the opponent has been quite superior to you," added the red-white coach, who lost 5-0 to Barcelona in the semi-final of the Spanish Supercup.

The red-white team has already scored four goals in the first half, unable to stop the flood of blaugranas. In the second half, with the match decided, the pace of the crash has dropped considerably.

"Having seen it, being natural and saying things as you think... you have to be a little careful many times, but it is true that it is annoying for our fans. Perhaps the forms were not right, but it is probably like playing out of the house tomorrow because we will not have many followers," regrets the red-white striker. Athletic coach Ernesto Valverde, however, has again been more pragmatic. "We are happy here," he said.

Ernesto Valverde's Athletic arrived at around 22:50 and went straight to the Park Hyatt Hotel, where the organizers have received players. This Tuesday, Athletic will train at 18:00 (Basque time) at the King Abdullah Stadium, following the press conference that Iñaki Williams and Ernesto Valverde will offer from 17:15.

The red-white team held their last working session in Lezama this morning, and after arriving in Saudi Arabia, the bilbaine team will be staying at the Hyatt Jeddah Hotel.

Wednesday will be the twelfth game of the red-whites in that tournament. In addition, Valverde has a chance to win his third Supercup, a match with coaches Cruyff and Guardiola.

Last Tuesday, after Iñaki Williams trained in San Mamés, he said to the media, "Playing in Arabia is bullshit."  Today, at a press conference, Valverde expressed his opinion on these statements and made it clear that going to Arabia is prestigious and that they must be very careful about the statements they make. 

Athletic will play this Saturday 's derbi against Osasuna in El Sadar. Valverde has pointed out that he is a strong rival and difficult to beat, but the goal is to recover the tips left on the road.

Fans, mostly families, have been in the stands of San Mamés since an hour before the start of the training. The wait has been threatened with music by the red-white club. The footballers have been greeted with a warm ovation by fans as they jumped onto the lawn on schedule.

Berenguer overtook the red-whites in the first half, but before the break Romero tied the match. Back from the locker room, Milla made the second for the Catalans, and the lions couldn't answer.

Athletic has played against Espanyol in San Mamés on Monday. The Barcelona team, which has won the last four games, is a direct rival of the red-white team in the fight for European positions. 

The midfielder Bermeotarra scored the goal that gave the red-whites the classification for the 8th finals. He believes his team has played "a very serious game from start to finish."

In the second half Guruzeta sent a ball to the larghill on the clearest occasion of the first 90 minutes.

"People outside don't know the difficulties of this kind of game, even sometimes the players don't know it either. They only realize it when the game starts, and at that moment you're already losing. If the player isn't ready for two minutes, that won't stop," the Athletic coach warned in the run-up to the Cup Final 16 elimination.

Ernesto Valverde appears at a press conference for this Sunday's match against Celtic. He said the team is fine, but it will be a difficult game and Iker Monreal will play it because of Laporte's injury. [Video in Spanish]

Athletic and PSG tie without goals in San Mamés On the sixth day of the Champions League, Valverde's team has done a great job in defense. Unai Simon has stopped the European champion Europe and has given the red-white team a point that keeps him alive in the highest European competition.

A spectacular Unai Simon stopped the PSG in San Mamés, allowing the red-white team to get a point of merit.

"The best example of what we have to do is the Saturday game against Atlético. That's the Athletic we all want to see. If we go out on the field like this, we'll have a better chance of winning the game," the defense stressed at the press conference he offered in San Mamés.

After the defeat against Real Madrid in San Mamés (0-3), Athletic wants to show a rapid recovery to face the match against Atlético de Madrid. Ernesto Valverde warns that there is no time for lamentations: "We must show a quick recovery, tomorrow we have an important match and we want to recover."

The red-white coach has confirmed the casualties of Iñaki Williams and Robert Navarro. Valverde hopes to play both again "before Christmas". He also said he has "some doubt" about Mikel Vesga's physical condition.