This Wednesday Athletic pushes their slim chances in their visit to Atalanta in Bergamo to qualify among the top 24 in the Champions League. They are thirtieth, two points behind Qarabag, which marks the border to progress. They have won one game, drawn two, and lost three. The worst Athletic of the Valverde era is tenth in the EA Sports League, with 24 points, 17 behind Atletico Madrid, who holds the last spot for the top continental tournament. They have scored 19 goals and conceded 28. They suffered a 5-0 defeat against Barcelona in the Super Cup semifinals. There has been some improvement compared to the previous season: on February 4th, they will visit Valencia in the Copa del Rey quarter-finals.
Nico Williams, Berenguer, and Yuri did not travel to Bergamo due to physical problems, a setback that stands as the main mitigating factor for Athletic's poor performance, who suffered their tenth defeat in the Spanish league against Mallorca (3-2) last Saturday, albeit in a match influenced by two questionable penalties against them. The list of casualties has not stopped, with significant absences also in defense, as in addition to Yeray Álvarez's ten-month ban for a positive doping test, in December, Aymeric Laporte was also sidelined, expected to play a central role upon his return to the club. Egiluz, Prados, and Sannadi are among those pursued by misfortune.
Frustrated in his move to Barcelona, Nico Williams, the team's star player, has only had intermittent and subdued appearances, falling victim to pubalgia, now compounded by a muscular overload. Oihan Sancet, who had scored 15 goals at this stage last season, now has only one, also affected by successive injuries. In his tenth season leading the team, the fourth of his third spell, Valverde is trying to lift a group showing signs of exhaustion.
At this point, it seems unlikely that the coach, whose notable achievements include leading the team to the Copa title 40 years later, will renew his contract, with hypothetical replacements already being discussed. Andoni Iraola, who is doing well at Bournemouth and boasts the pedigree of his 12 brilliant seasons at Athletic, would be the best placed for a potential replacement. A riskier option seems to be Eder Sarabia, who achieved promotion with Elche and is currently leading the Alicante team gracefully in the top flight.
Atalanta is fifth in the Champions League, with 13 points. If Athletic secures a positive result, depending on the teams ahead, they would keep their chances alive for the last match of this regular phase on January 28th at San Mamés against Sporting de Portugal. In the 2024/2025 season, Athletic lost to Manchester United in the Europa League semifinals and secured third place in the EA Sports League. The best news for the Basques is that there is still a lot to play for.