Bielsa's Young Apprentices.
Basque childhood seems like an enjoyable time, and this has been immediately added to the list
of reasons why. Sure, everyone in the world of football is swooning over Athletic Bilbao's manager
Marcelo "El Loco" Bielsa. Pep Guardiola can't seem to get enough of him, but what continuously
flies under the radar is the fact that the Argentine coach is a hell of a nice guy in addition to a
tactical genius.
By Chris Wright
Barcelona beat Athletic Bilbao 3-0 (both sets of fans Catalan and Basque booed the Spanish
national anthem) to win the Copa Del Rey in Pep's final game in charge last night, with Lionel
Messi scoring his 73rd goal of the season sandwiched between a brace from Pedro all inside the
first 25 minutes.
By Chris Wright
Athletic Bilbao tonked third-tier side Albacete (bit of trivia: Andres Iniesta is the club's
majority shareholder) 4-0 in the Copa del Rey at the San Mames last night, with the third goal of
the night being scored by forward Gaizka Toquero a man who, to quote Wikipedia, is 'blessed with
few technical skills but is a tremendous hard-worker'.
Athletic Bilbao midfielder Oscar de Marcos insists his side will show Mirandes total respect on
Tuesday night as the two clubs clash in the Copa del Rey semi-final.
Athletic, whose record of 23 Copa titles is second only to Barcelona (25), are favourites
heading into the semi-final second leg after earning a 2-1 lead from last week's first meeting at
Mirandes' Anduva stadium.
Basque in the glory, Athletic.
Whatever happens at San Mamés this evening between Athletic Bilbao and Manchester United, it
has to be said that the Basque fans, not to mention the players, have been a refreshing addition to
European football this season. Iker Muniain and Fernando Llorente may be the brightest talents
coming through the Athletic ranks, but the solidarity and sheer undying pride the club's fans
possess is something that many supporters in this world of modern football could learn from.
Andoni Iraola's golazo that could have been
Athletic Bilbao and Marcelo Bielsa have given Manchester United yet another lesson in how to
play vibrant, attacking, entertaining football. They defeated United for the second time in a row,
this time 2-1 at home at the San Mamés (5-3 on aggregate).
Manchester United unsurprisingly failed to advance into the next round of Europa League after
they suffered another defeat against Athletic Bilbao on Thursday, giving the Spanish team a passage
with a convincing 5-3 aggregate.
In a rather similar fashion as United's defeat in the first leg, the scoreline was indeed rather
flattering for the English champion as they were once again outplayed by the Bilbao young guns and
could've faced an embarrassment on the night if it wasn't for the Basque's based team's poor
finishing.
Athletic Bilbao last won silverware in 1984, so fans of the popular Basque side travelled in
their droves to attend the Europa League Final earlier this week for a chance to witness a
rekindling of their former glory. Sadly, Falcao and ten other Atletico Madrid players were 3-0
victors on the night, which was particularly hard news to take for the 400 Athletic Club fans who
travelled to Hungary for the game by mistake.
By Chris Wright
Barcelona beat Athletic Bilbao 3-0 (both sets of fans Catalan and Basque booed the Spanish
national anthem) to win the Copa Del Rey in Pep's final game in charge last night, with Lionel
Messi scoring his 73rd goal of the season sandwiched between a brace from Pedro all inside the
first 25 minutes.
