Valverde can get revenge, redemption vs. Atlético, Barcelona،
If this is going to be a week of vengeance, vindication and resurrection for Ernesto Valverde, then it certainly hasn't started well. He and Athletic Club, his San Mamés Lions, will face Atlético Madrid at home in the second leg of their Copa del Rey semifinal on Thursday (stream LIVE on ESPN+) then will host Barcelona on Sunday in La Liga (stream LIVE on ESPN+). There's so much that hinges on both outcomes, but let's get to that in a minute.
Many people, despite the 12 trophies won by the Basque coach of Athletic Club during his career, wrongly persist in considering him as an “almost” man. A “close guy, but no cigar.” This is based on the fact that as a player he left Johan Cruyff's Barcelona immediately before winning four consecutive La Liga titles and the first European Cup final in their history. Unfortunate timing.
This also builds on the fact that as Espanyol's star winger he was part of a group that led Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 in the first leg of the 1988 UEFA Cup final, but then lost the second leg 3-0 then 3-2. on penalties in Germany to say goodbye to a trophy that already bore their fingerprints. Football can be cruel, so of course Valverde was ultimately manager of Espanyol when their 10-man team lost the 2007 UEFA Cup final at a rainy Hampden Park in Glasgow, again on penalties, but this time against Sevilla. Almost. So almost.
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Along the way, it was the 60-year-old, nicknamed “The Ant” in his playing days, partly because of his small stature and partly because of his perpetually industrious wing play, who almost brought Barcelona back to the Champions League final in 2019. Remember Anfield? One of the most glorious nights in the competition's 69-year history came at Valverde's expense.
His Barca side were knocked out of the tournament by a Liverpool team that played on the edge of conviction, passion, intensity, creativity, risk and reward. It was simply sensational… unless you're Valverde, his team or a Barcelona fan. What's forgotten, I think, is that Barcelona's 3-0 first-leg win, which Jurgen Klopp's Reds beat at Anfield, should have been 4-0 given Messi set up Ousmane Dembélé as a goalkeeper in the final seconds, only for the erratic ones. French to miss.
Given that Valverde's Barcelona led 4-1 against Roma the previous season but lost 3-0 in the Italian capital to exit the tournament – and that in his final season at the Camp Nou they lost the final of the Copa del Rey 2-1. in Valencia — this label of “almost” has stuck with him, completely and unfairly, for those who don't pay attention.
So back to vengeance, justification, and resurrection. It was Atlético Madrid that ultimately cost Valverde his job as Barcelona coach. Flash back to January 2020: while that of Valverde Blaugrana The team was only showing moderate form, they were still top of La Liga (on goal difference) ahead of Real Madrid when two late goals from Diego Simeone's Atleti beat Barça 3-2 in the semi -final of the Spanish Super Cup… and that was it for the manager. Dismissed.
It is important to clarify that Valverde will not be motivated by thoughts of revenge, but elite sport is as much a human drama industry as it is a commercial machine. If that wasn't the case, no one would be interested. So the added bonus that hangs deliciously for Valverde is that this is Simeone's Atleti, with nine of the same players who were there when The Rojiblancos sent Barcelona into a tailspin four years ago, who Athletic needed to beat at San Mames on Wednesday to reach the Copa del Rey final.
It must be borne in mind that the two clubs are very far from being equal when it comes to getting their hands on the spoils of Spanish football. Athletic may be the second most successful club in terms of Copa del Rey wins, but they haven't lifted the trophy in precisely 40 years. Perhaps the worst and most painful thing is that they lost six Copa finals over the next four decades. Simply in terms of silverware, for example, when Valverde led Athletic to their sensational 5-1 victory over Barcelona in the 2015 Super Cup final, it was Los Leones first trophy in 31 years. Atleti, by comparison, have won 10 trophies (mostly under Simeone) in the last 14 years.
San Mames, even in its new, beautiful and incredibly atmospheric version, is still known as “The Cathedral” of Spanish football. So there will be a lot of extremely fervent Basque prayers when Atleti arrive to try to overturn their 1-0 first leg deficit – prayers like “please don't let this be one of those “almost” nights, one of those “close, but no cigar” evenings.
They can't wait to be in this final and to win the trophy obviously, but even more so as their historic Basque rival, Real Sociedad, may already be waiting for them given that The RealThe semi-final home match against Mallorca is played the night before.
Honestly, imagine that: another 100% Basque final at the Seville Olympic Stadium in April. The last one was the 2020 final, postponed for a year due to the pandemic but which was nevertheless scheduled to be played without fans in April 2021. Athletic lost – of course they did – but without us we were too worried about which one. This time two could taste Basque victory, the mere spectacle of the quintessential Andalusian city (Seville) being overwhelmed by tens of thousands of San Sebastian and Bilbao fans is sumptuously enticing, if they each achieve it. The world will stop paying attention, believe me.
I mentioned that the week didn't start well for Valverde – or for Athletic – in that they stank to lose at Real Betis. Worse still, their important left-back, Yuri Berchiche, is injured, and although Nico Williams and Dani Vivian are both available for the Copa semi-final, each is suspended for the second part of the revenge opportunity -justification-resurrection of Valverde this week. That’s when they host reigning Spanish champions Barcelona in La Liga on Sunday.
Of course, it's not just that Josep Maria Bartomeu, the former Barcelona president who oversaw the club accumulating well over 1.2 billion euros in global debt and left it crippled by La Liga financial fair play rules, dismissed Valverde. Not just about “revenge.”
Athletic represent Basque pride: they only use footballers born or raised in their territory in northern Spain. No other club in the world can claim to apply such strict and “self-regulated” selection criteria. Again Los Leones is one of only three clubs, along with Madrid and Barcelona, to have never been relegated.
The downside is that it is difficult to have enough room to maneuver at the top table. Athletic have only played in the Champions League twice – the last time under Valverde in 2015 – and it has been six years since they last played in European football. The Lions want to roar again.
Had they won at Betis, Athletic would have moved into the top four, but they fell flat on their face. Recent meetings with Barcelona have been gargantuan and fantastic entertainment: the last five at San Mames have included a 3-2 victory for each team and, most recently, Athletic won 4-2 after extra time.
Valverde isn't really for nostalgia, nor for 'what could have been'. The few times he spoke about his time at Barcelona, when there was a hint of decline or the “end of an era”, he did so euphemistically.
His choice of comparison fell on Italian basketball coach Sergio Scariolo who joined the Toronto Raptors as an assistant coach in 2018 before helping them win their first NBA title. So when Valverde described his own experience at Barcelona to his friend Lu Martin in Relevo, he used the cross-sport comparison to say “Scariolo had won a lot of trophies, everyone said he was very good, but he was used to these previous projects being “his”. When he arrived in the NBA and in Toronto, he realized that it was the players' project… that he had to adapt to them, and not the other way around.
This is a neat way of explaining that even though Valverde's Barcelona era had some sublime, aging footballers – Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez, Gerard Pique and others – he didn't feel entirely in control. . It was a negotiated process, not a traditional hierarchical one, and, over time, the much more relaxed training regime favored by the big beasts of the Barcelona team cost them dearly in terms of competition. Oh, and it was Valverde, not the players, who paid the price.
The irony is that with Xavi unwavering in his desire to leave in June, Valverde would be the absolutely ideal replacement. Yet this ship sailed long ago; Barcelona have cut ties with Valverde once and for all. The reigning Spanish champions therefore travel to Bilbao for a place in the Champions League, eight points ahead of Valverde's team, and it would be a huge deal for the Basque to remind the Catalans of the talent of coach they lost and, in doing so, propel Los Leones towards European football next season.
The week didn't start well for Valverde, but it remains intriguing and promising nonetheless. Revenge, revenge, resurrection, cup final and ascension to the Champions League are not often offered like this week, over three days: “almost” will not achieve it here.
