Marcelino’s miracle

El Athletic Bilbao smile again thanks to Marcelino Garca Toral. The Asturian master has provided a breath of fresh air within the Basque structure, which already dreams of raising a title again.

The master managed to beat Real Madrid this Thursday in the semifinals of the Spanish Super Cup thanks to a remarkable approach, which managed to corner the whites especially in the first half. He’s only been in the Basque Country for twelve days, he hasn’t even had time to enjoy the city, but the coach seems to have hit the key of a team that was armed thanks to the work of Gaizka Garitano but that he needed a morale boost to feel like a winner again.

As soon as they arrived on its horizon, the colossi appeared with the matches before Barcelona, ​​Atltico de Madrid and Real Madrid. Luckily for his interests, the meeting with the colchoneros was postponed because of Filomena and that, as he recognized this Thursday in ‘El Partidazo de la Cope’, It was good for him to rearm himself and face the appointment against Zidane’s team. A clash from which he emerged victorious and reinforced, in addition to allowing him to boast of being one of the few coaches who has beaten the capital with four different clubs.

In Bilbao, the fans are enchanting because they notice how the master’s ideas are beginning to permeate within the squad. We are talking about a coach who protects the player from the beginning, who has a particular method that he knows he needs weeks to settle but that ends up working.Looking at the subsidiary, something key in this club, although without detracting from what he has in the first team.

Inside the Ibaigane offices, the professionalism of a master who is taking these weeks in ‘preseason mode’ stands out. Another of the factors that appreciate their football bags is that they have individualized talks with them to convince them that everyone can have their place on campus. He does not hang medals, the first thing he wants is to join the group and after the results arrive with work.

Among the factors of his ‘miracle’ is his having ‘reborn’ Ral Garca, pain in the tie against Madrid. The attacker has recovered his scoring instinct and was able to achieve a ‘double’ against the whites. In addition, another detail is the ability to make changes. In his last two games, the Spaniard shook the bench and that had a good impact on the grass.

“We are trying to instill an idea, I am not a magician, taking advantage of previous work, and that the idea of ​​the game prevails over the result. If we are able to compete at the same level and consider the result as secondary we will be a great team,” he said. at the press conference after the La Rosaleda crash.

“Although we suffered in the final stretch we had some option to close the game, winning Real Madrid without suffering is not even within our reach, but we have achieved it. We are very satisfied and grateful to the players for their effort and competitive level , before a rival that when he caresses titles is almost always impregnable, “said someone who already sees himself beating Bara.

“It would be wonderful to win this title and also win it by winning Real Madrid and Bara, so we have to be aware of the difficulty, and we also have one less day of rest. That we play against a club used to winning and with enormous offensive capacity. Now it’s time to recover and then go with maximum conviction, this result will serve to increase the confidence and self-esteem of the players and progressively better performance “. Marcelino’s hand is already noticeable in this renewed Athletic.