Mendizorrotza is preparing to experience a Basque derby with two teams immersed in very different dynamics. Alavés is back at home, but with a different coach given the dismissal of Luis García Plaza due to poor results and the subsequent signing of Chacho Coudet. Athletic, on the other hand, arrives at this event in Gasteiz full of morale thanks to its positive streak of results in both LaLiga and the Europa League.
El Glorioso has not won since last November 1 when they beat Mallorca at home 1-0. The Albiazules have even been eliminated from the Cup against a Second RFEF rival: Deportiva Minera. The Argentine coach had just sat on the bench. In the league tournament, however, they debuted a few days later with a 2-2 draw at El Sadar.
Athletic’s last defeat, however, dates back to November 6. That day the lions knelt in Girona (2-1) after having wasted up to three penalty shots. Since then, Valverde’s men have played a dozen matches between the domestic and continental tournaments with a balance of three draws and nine wins, the last six of them consecutively.
The Gasteiz clash is scheduled for 4:15 p.m. The refereeing will be carried out by Sánchez Martínez, from Colegio Murciano, with Iglesias Villanueva in the VAR.
Probable alignments in Alavés-Athletic
MD
New coach
Athletic’s visit will serve as Coudet’s letter of introduction to his new fans. The babazorro coach is aware of the good moment the lions are going through, but his main concern is being able to form a competitive block as soon as possible to begin to recover sensations and positions in the table. In his first two games on the Alavés bench, the Argentine coach opted for practically the same starting eleven.
We will have to wait, therefore, to see if he remains faithful to his idea or, after having had time to get to know the squad better, opts for changes. In El Sadar, last weekend, he opted for Sivera; Tenaglia, Abqar, Mouriño, Diarra; Jordán, Antonio Blanco; Carlos Vicente, Guridi, Carlos Martín; and Kike García.
To dose forces
Athletic, for its part, arrives at this derby with morale through the roof. The lions have won six consecutive games, four of them in LaLiga, and they want to extend this good streak to establish themselves in the Champions zone and, in the process, put pressure on the top three. Last season they also managed to break their bad streak of results in Mendizorrotza by winning 0-2 with goals from Iñaki Williams and Sancet.
Everything indicates that Valverde will once again introduce several changes to his starting lineup. The doubt regarding the goal remains given that Agirrezabala played between the sticks last Wednesday in Türkiye when Unai Simón was expected to do so. We will have to see what happens today in this regard.
The rest of the lineup, depending on the physical condition of some players, should not vary much from that formed by De Marcos, Vivian, Paredes, Yuri or Adama; Prados, Galarreta or Jauregizar; Iñaki Williams, Sancet, Berenguer or Nico Williams; and Guruzeta.Valverde, as is usual, did not give any clues in this regard yesterday.
