Athletic Club coach Ernesto Valverde expressed his admiration for Roma’s team and fans during their Europa League match. He stated, “I hope we can create an atmosphere half as good as theirs tonight.”
Roma supporters followed instructions to bring yellow and red flags, creating a stunning visual display before the game.
This fan support seemed to inspire Roma, who rallied after Inaki Williams’ opening goal to win with goals from Angelino and a late winner from Eldor Shomurodov.
Athletic Club played with 10 men after Yeray Alvarez received a second yellow card.
Valverde refrained from criticizing the referee, saying, “I don’t want to talk about the referee. He did start handing out cards a bit too early and easily, but I have nothing more to add.”
Yeray will miss the return leg in Bilbao due to suspension, and Valverde is concerned that Daniel Vivian may also be unavailable due to injury.
Valverde impressed by Roma home fans
“We are strong at home and I hope we can have half the atmosphere they had tonight. It was an extraordinary atmosphere, so passionate. We still hope we can turn it around.”
“It’s true that Roma are a good team, they have players like Paulo Dybala, Artem Dovbyk and Matias Soule who can change a game, but we are still playing the second leg on our home turf.”
“As soon as we got into the locker room, we were already starting to think about the return match at the San Mames. All we can do is win in our stadium.”
Shomurodov’s decisive goal came in the final moments of the match, just when Athletic Club thought they had secured a 1-1 draw despite being a man down.
“There is never a good moment to concede a goal, but when we scored, they started to push constantly. We had it all under control, except for when we were a man down and they found the decisive move. When a game is balanced, there is never a good time to concede.”
Despite many considering Athletic Club favorites in the Europa League, Valverde emphasized the difficulty of the tie against Roma.
“Roma are a strong team, they are not weak. When you are repeatedly forced back, you tend to just kick the ball away.”
“Something didn’t work tonight, but we must look forward.”