Athletic Bilbao were toothless last night as they went down to a 3-1 away defeat at the hands of Sparta Prague in Europa League Group I.
Bilbao were overpowered at Prague as they found themselves down to 2-0 at the interval.
First half goals from Balaj and Tomas gave the Czech side a comfortable lead in the first period of last night’s match.
Soon after the interval, Sparta were 3-0 up, thanks to a penalty kick beautifully converted by Husbauer.
Bilbao got one back at the ending moments of the game but it was to no avail as Prague made sure to seal off any chances for Bilbao’s come back.
The result means Bilbao are still winless after two games in Group I and that makes their chances of qualifying to the second round very slim, and it is a point that their coach Bielsa concurs.
“Today's match was key to try and get points off of our rivals, but we could not take that opportunity. It is going to be difficult [to qualify], but in no way is it over.”
The most worrying thing for Bilbao is that they are losing against sides that are relatively weaker than them at this stage of the tournament.
It makes one wonder about how they would do against stronger teams even if they qualify from their group which, at the moment, seems difficult.
Bielsa admitted, “The fact is that we have lost to rivals that are inferior to us. That is the reality and we cannot ignore it."
“Today's match was key to try and get points off of our rivals, but we could not take that opportunity. It is going to be difficult [to qualify], but in no way is it over.”
The Chilean coach also admitted to the tactical issues Bilbao have been facing for the past five matches and he takes responsibility for that.
“When we finished attacks they found it easy to organize themselves,” he said. “That's a tactical aspect that has to do with positional issues – that is my fault.
Athletic Bilbao are going to face Osasuna on Sunday in La Liga with a winless streak of five.
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