Murad Al-Masry (Abu Dhabi)
Ernesto Valverde, coach of Athletic Bilbao, is anticipating the next confrontation against Barcelona, the day after tomorrow, Sunday, in the Spanish League, in an attempt to restore the reputation of his former team, which is armed with high morale after reaching the final of the Spanish King’s Cup, taking advantage of the “hell” of San Mamés Stadium. , which has become an “impregnable fortress” for the Basque team this season.
Valverde had previously beaten Barcelona in the quarter-finals of the Spanish King’s Cup, by winning at San Mames Stadium 4-2 after extra time, but this time he is looking to excel in the league, in order to increase the pressure on him in the race to reserve the qualifying places for the Champions League next season. .
Valverde knows this match well, having played it as a coach on 28 occasions, leading the Basque team on 23 of them, and the Catalan team on five occasions.
During his football career, Valverde also played for these two clubs. He played as a striker for Barcelona between 1988 and 1990, before representing Athletic Bilbao between 1990 and 1996.
After his retirement, he took his first steps in coaching in Bilbao, where he worked at the Lezama Academy, then became the first team coach for Athletic in 2003, and caught the attention of the legend Johan Cruyff, who nominated him to take over the leadership of Barcelona one day, which happened in 2017, and with the team. He won the “La Liga” title for two consecutive seasons, in addition to the Spanish King’s Cup title once, but his defeat in the “Remontada” twice against Roma in Italy and then Liverpool in England cost him his departure.
Valverde enjoyed his time away from the game and focused on his other passion, which is photography, including holding exhibitions of his artwork in Bilbao and San Sebastian. He then returned again to coach Athletic Bilbao in the summer of 2022, and he is now close to winning the cup title with the team. In addition to bringing him back to participate in the European championships, but of course he wants to make his mark again against the “Blaugrana” in an upcoming public meeting in San Mames.
2024-03-01 11:38:44
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