Ernesto Valverde reached 500 games and wrote history

Valverde returned to the bench, after a break of 2.5 years which he chose to do for personal reasons, he returned and took charge of his beloved Athletic Bilbao for the second time in the summer of 2022

Ernesto Valverde head coach of Athletic Club

Ernesto Valverde returned to the bench, after a break of 2.5 years which he chose to do for personal reasons, he returned and took charge of his beloved Athletic Bilbao for the second time in the summer of 2022.

The Basque coach, after the previous mediocre season carried out by the "Lions of San Mames", has transformed his team for the better and has made its fans dream of an exit to the UEFA Champions League next season.

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Last season Bilbao finished 8th in La Liga and failed to get a European ticket. Many believed that the 59-year-old was not the right man to lead the Rojiblancos to success, creating a new team to rely on in the coming years.

However, the successful former coach of Olympiakos Piraeus, with the experience he has, has turned the Bilbao footballers into fighting like Lions, as is also their nickname. So they are rightfully in 4th place in the standings, claiming a place in next year's premier inter-club competition.

Their course so far

The Basques have collected 38 points and have the third best defense in La Liga having conceded just 19 goals. Also, Bilbao have the 3rd best goal difference in this year's La Liga (+17) behind only Real Madrid (+29) and Girona (+22).

In fact, the performance of 38 points in the first round is a record for the team in the 21st century and brings back memories to its fans from the 1983/1984 season, when "the Lions of San Mames" also won the Spanish championship for the last time.

It is also worth mentioning that Bilbao had not collected so many points in the first round even in the 2013-2014 season, when the Basques secured the ticket to the UEFA Champions League for the last time.

Of course, this season is special for Valverde, who has coached Barcelona, Valencia, Villarreal and Espanyol among others.

With the match against Sevilla, Valverde completed 500 official games as a coach in La Liga and became only the 7th person to do so.

Luis Aragones, Javier Irureta, Miguel Muñoz, Victor Fernandez, Javier Clemente and Joaquin Caparos are the only ones ahead of him on the relevant list.

Ernesto Valverde, however, with the experience he has, knows very well that Athletic has not yet achieved anything and has a difficult road ahead of him.

After the 0-2 win over Sevilla at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, the Basque coach said: "At the moment we are fighting for the next match, the away cup match against Eibar, against another tough opponent. . You can start speculating. The first half of the league tells us we are good, but that is now history. We have to see the remaining 19 games. We don't need to get carried away with euphoria. We are not the worst when we lose, nor are we the best when we win... We must always be down to earth."