Athletic Club have arrived late at the table in this edition of the Champions League. A disastrous month has left unable to progress after this stage of the tournament and they went into tonight’s game against Shakhtar Donetsk knowing that for them, it will all be over next month. But at least they were able to grab a prestigious win in their penultimate outing of the groups phase – a solitary Mikel San José strike on 68 minutes was enough for the Basque outfit to come away from the Lviv Arena with all three points – and leave them requiring just a draw from their final match, against BATE at San Mamés to enter the Last 32 of the Europa League.
With Aduriz on the bench and Laporte sat in the stands, Athletic gave a good account of themselves in the opening minutes – especially at the back. Alex Teixeira let Los Leones off the hook in one, isolated lapse in defence when he miscued with just Iraizoz to beat. Athletic pressed forward well but struggled in their distribution of the ball and lacked clarity when chances arose. Muniain and Beñat both tried their luck, without success, from distance but the breakthrough finally came midway through the second half. Beñat’s raking free-kick was met by San José, who came sprinting into the box to steer the ball into the roof of the net.
The only sore point was the injury to Xabi Etxeita who was forced to retire with an adductor muscle problem. Athletic sit third in their group on four points and bid the Champions League farewell in Bilbao on December 10 knowing that their run in European competition might not be over yet.
from Últimas noticias | Diario AS http://ift.tt/1FoNbCZ
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