Xavi (Barcelona coach, after the victory against Athletic Bilbao 1-0): “Before coming into play, I told him (to Marc Guiu) : “You’re going to have a chance and you’re going to score.” We always try to be positive with our players and give them confidence. He’s only 17 and I see him ready. The difference between my generation and theirs is that they want to play. They are not worried about playing. I saw it at Guiu, but also at Unai (Hernández) or at Héctor Fort. When we launch them, I think they are ready. And I think we also need to be brave.
It’s time to bet on youth. We have injured people. We had a lot of absences but we had to win the match. So we had to take a bigger risk and we did. Marc Guiu is a good boy. He works hard and he is ready. I thought of him because he has a sense of purpose, a spark, and I like him personally. I give him the confidence that was given to me when I was 17-18 years old. »
Ernesto Valverde (coach of Athletic Bilbao): “In the first half, we saw that we were capable of pushing them around, that we were hurting them, that we were doing well, and then in the second half, they had two clear chances. We were already losing a bit of momentum, but at the time of the goal the match was in a neutral situation.
And then there was this action, in particular the pass in the axis of Iñigo (Martinez), who found João Félix. This pass pierced us. I thought for a moment it was offside, but they scored the goal and we kept pushing. But that did not work. The truth is that it’s a shame because we had a good match and we leave empty-handed. »
2023-10-23 11:05:18
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