Ernesto Valverde has been disappointed by the elimination in the Cup at the hands of Osasuna. The red and white coach has placed special emphasis on his team’s lack of success in converting opportunities, something that Osasuna has done. “When you lose you are always disappointed. It all depends on the result, we have not achieved it, it is a constant in the last games with Osasuna, we arrived but they have more success than us. We were left out of the Cup. At the beginning it was difficult for us to get there, they were waiting, trying to catch some counter, they scored the goal and the misfortune of the second came. We were able to score 1-2 and in the second half we achieved the tie. Then we generated a draw but we couldn’t,” said the red and white coach at the end of the match.
“We did not play alone, Osasuna tried to stop the pace of the game, each one plays their tricks. The first time they approached us they scored a goal, we have had some that we have not been able to materialize. In the second half we went ahead and we were able to score but this is a question of success and we were not successful,” he added.
The Cup is not like the League. A mistake leaves you out: “You risk it in a game, we know that it is not a question of winning on points, it is a question of winning on the field and getting it right. Generate a cluster of situations that, with success, the game can fall on your side. Last year there were times when the opponent failed and we kept going. The playoffs are like that, they are decisive moments.”
The player from Gasteiz has acknowledged that Osasuna’s third goal has hurt them a lot. “They have had a very high effectiveness rate, if we had had it the result would have been different,” he acknowledged.
Now it’s time to change the chip. Athletic has not started the year well, with two defeats against Barça and Osasuna and a tie against UD Logroñés resolved from the penalty spot. “This is like everything, we already know what the football movie is like. If you lose you have to get up. We have to put ourselves in the situation that you have lost and we have to take a step forward in the competitions that we have left. Nobody likes to be eliminated, it hurts us right now and what it’s about is how you deal with difficulties. Now we have to defend fourth place in the League and play in the Europa League on Wednesday. We haven’t started the year the way we would have liked but it doesn’t end here.”
Txingurri has once again emphasized the lack of effectiveness: “You have to admit it, it is the law of football, it is not a question of trying to win, but of whether the gods are on your side. Sometimes it happens the other way around. You have to admit it. “I would love to always win,” he stated. Even so, he has indicated that he has seen his team “quite well.” “We are going to continue doing the same thing, nothing is going to change.”
