The first round of the Europa League saw Athletic Bilbao draw 1-1 away with Roma. The home team, Roma, took the lead through Dovbyk’s goal. In the second half, Athletic Bilbao equalized in the 85th minute through Pareedes. After the match, Athletic Bilbao’s head coach, Valverde, attended the press conference.
Regarding Athletic Bilbao’s return to European competition: “Our team has not participated in European matches for a long time, so this was a very important game for us. Beyond the result, we regret what happened at the end of the match. An incident off the field left us deeply saddened. We strongly condemn such behavior, whether it is directed at us or our fans targeting opponents; we will not tolerate it. Football should belong to everyone, including the opposition, and we reiterate our condemnation of these actions.”
Regarding the match: “This game was very tough for us. For the first 15 to 20 minutes, the team performed well, but then we encountered some difficulties when engaging in midfield battles with Roma, which forced us to defend for extended periods. In the second half, we successfully broke free from man-to-man marking. We got closer and closer to the opponent’s penalty area and eventually earned the deserved draw.”
Valverde: The Match Against Roma Was Tough; They Forced Athletic Bilbao to Defend for Long Periods. Author：Sports UEFA.Please indicate the source when reproduced：https://www.sportsuefa.com/football-world/valverde-the-match-against-roma-was-tough-they-forced-athletic-bilbao-to-defend-for-long-periods.html
