Valverde on Bilbao europa league exit at Manchester Utd
08/05/2025
Old Trafford, Manchester, UK
Uefa europa league semi final
08/05/2025
Old Trafford, Manchester, UK
Uefa europa league semi final
Category
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SportsTranscript
00:00I'll judge everything by the final score. It was a wide scoreline.
00:04When we were at moments during the first half, we got in their box, we were close, we were pushing and pressing high.
00:13We felt like we had half a chance when it was 1-0.
00:19You know, it was good to get ahead in the second leg.
00:22But then, above all, in the last 10 minutes, we were poor towards the end of the second half, those last 10 minutes.
00:30They scored a goal at a key time.
00:40We've not been that bad, though, you know.
00:43They scored three more goals when our form dropped a little bit.
00:50It was almost like a walk in the park for them at the end, but we know it wasn't like that.
00:54You know, if you're out there on the field, it's not been easy for them in the first leg or the second.
00:57We congratulate United.
01:02We know that the tie was a lot more even, Stephen, than the scoreline suggests.
01:08But, you know, if you take away those last few minutes, it was a much more even game.
01:16I'd like to know if – what's the dressing room?
01:25What has the dressing room been like, and what sort of apprenticeship has it been for a lot of the younger players?
01:30From the start of the season in this competition, we've been learning all the way.
01:35We always had the hope of arriving at the final in our own ground.
01:42You know, it was a big incentive having that final in Bilbao.
01:46That was our big hope and desire.
01:48We want to go step by step.
01:50I think we've had a great tournament overall, but when you get moments like this against a really strong side, decisive moments.
02:02You know, we kind of gave in a bit in the end, you know.
02:06We conceded at key times, both in the first leg and tonight.
02:11You know, it's a big scoreline, home and away.
02:14We knew it was an upward slope coming here, but we didn't want to come here with the big disadvantage that we had.
02:26We gave everything.
02:27I think a lot of players, it was the first time that they played in European competition.
02:33We've not been in this tournament for a while ourselves.
02:38People learn from these things, and they use them as motivation as well.
02:44But it's true that kind of it all collapsed a little bit towards the end.
02:50The team wasn't great towards the end.
02:52Can you put it into perspective?
02:55Getting to the semifinal, it's okay, isn't it?
02:58It's a reasonable.
02:59The reality is, for us, it's a big success, relatively speaking.
03:03Being able to get this far and take part in a semifinal.
03:10That's a fact in itself, an achievement in itself.
03:13But obviously, you want to achieve more.
03:15You wanted to get all the way to the final.
03:17But what are the feelings at the moment?
03:22Feelings at the end of the game?
03:23Obviously, that wasn't great, but it's been a fantastic tournament.
03:28I think we've done well right from the beginning, back in September.
03:33I'm a bit annoyed.
03:35I've got to say I'm a bittersweet feeling because of what happened in the last 10 minutes.
03:39You know, we would have gone away from here a lot more happy if that hadn't happened.
03:45Knowing that in other conditions or in other circumstances,
03:52I think that to avoid it being knocked out, we could have done a lot more, you know?
03:59We know that the opponent's very, very good and they've got some great players.
04:04We've just got to keep going.
04:07There's no need to beat ourselves up about it.
04:09You know, they've been strong in our area and converted their chances.
04:16That's what they did.
04:19Do you fear that this might have an effect on the league form?
04:22There's some big games coming up at home.
04:24How are we going out of the match here?
04:33Will the four league games left?
04:36How will the morale be after this?
04:38No, I think for sure.
04:41Whenever you're knocked out, it's always painful.
04:43Because you always have that hope that's shattered.
04:48And you always want to carry on and continue in the tournament.
04:52But only one team can win.
04:58We've got some big challenges ourselves in the league at home.
05:02And stuff that we want to achieve.
05:05Sunday, we've got a really big game against Alaves.
05:08We're in fourth place.
05:10And we want to play in the Champions League next season.
05:13If it's possible.
05:18Is it easy after being knocked out like that?
05:21But do you think that the team really stamped their personality on the game?
05:28Would you say pride is a word you could use for this performance?
05:32Let's see.
05:33I mean, I think right now I'm a bit down because of the situation.
05:38I didn't like how we finished the game.
05:41You know, we weren't great.
05:43Those ten minutes.
05:44I think before that, you know, it was a different game, wasn't it?
05:50But you've still got to play those last ten minutes.
05:52Those last ten minutes count as well, you know.
05:54You can't just give up.
05:56But I think we're happy with what we've done this season overall.
06:03And in spite of these two games where we've encountered difficulties,
06:07I still think we've given a good account of ourselves.
06:09Our fans were brilliant.
06:11Really impressive.
06:12What they pass on to us, the support they give us, what they show to everyone.
06:20You know, we've proved to the United and the fans here just what a set of supporters we've got.
06:24They're fantastic.
06:25We did all we could for them.
06:28And we're grateful.
06:28But I think the key now is, for us, we're at this part of the season.
06:35We're all together.
06:36We stick together.
06:37We're united.
06:40It's hard to overcome moments like this.
06:44But, you know, we've got to show that our players are as constant as United.
06:48I think Manchester were very, it was even Steven up to the 70th minute.
07:00But then after that, the first sort of chance they had, they equalized on the night.
07:08Partly, I understand what you're saying, but we always had this big desire and hope to get to the final.
07:17And then with that equalizer, it was almost like it was slipping out of our hands, you know.
07:22But that's just another facet of football, isn't it?
07:25You concede, you've got to reset and try and respond.
07:28I think that we didn't give up, we didn't drop our shoulders, we didn't let our heads get down.
07:37But maybe we weren't pressing quite as high up the pitch.
07:41We were losing a lot of the duels and the tackles.
07:46You know, we tried to score to make it 2-1 again after they equalized, but when people like Garnacho is a great player,
07:56but when you get Ahmad and Diallo coming on, Ahmad Diallo coming on, it freshened everything up, you know,
08:02and I think it made the difference.
08:09So you've had a really busy season, two games a week, continual games week after week.
08:18Do you think it takes it out of you, this competition, all these demands that we put on the team week after week,
08:25do you think you can keep it going to the end of the season?
08:28Well, if we want to take part in European competition, this is how it is, you know, two games a week.
08:34Every team has to do that, has to cope with that.
08:37Anybody who's in the Champions League or the Europa League, you have to cope with these fixtures.
08:43Demands high levels of concentration, fitness,
08:45and a mental approach to focusing on your bigger picture and your, you know, larger objectives.
08:55Manchester United are a team that are classically in the Champions League.
09:01You know, they can maybe have certain players playing at 70% and they can still win games,
09:07the strength of the squad that they've got.
09:09We've got to be united together, we've got to battle, fight hard.
09:17You know, physically, we're starting to feel it a little bit.
09:20We've got those injuries, people who weren't here tonight.
09:24You know, the mental approach as well is important.
09:28We've got to stay strong mentally.
09:32There's lots of games, it is what it is.
09:35We're in this competition, we've got to cope with it.
09:37So, at the end of the game,
09:46do you think San Mames was the key?
09:50Conceding three, the sending off.
09:53Yeah, I think the key to the tie was in San Mames.
09:56It was one there, really.
09:59You know, we didn't convert our chances at the beginning of the game last week,
10:03and then we conceded, we had the man sent off.
10:08It meant that we had to really change our tactic when we were playing away from home.
10:13We had to go for it here.
10:16You know, it was a fair result, but it was one that was tough to take and hard to react to.
10:22We would have liked to have come into tonight with the scoreline being closer.
10:26You know, we were trying all we could tonight to get that second goal, which would have been vital.
10:33But I think, yeah, the first game was decisive.
10:35Sometimes we focus on things that we don't win and what we don't achieve.
10:49What are the positives that you can take from this season?
10:52You know, we've been earning and winning lots of things this season.
10:57But in football, in reality, there's lots of people who lose all the time.
11:09You can only have – you might win a semifinal, you might win a cup every so often in your career.
11:12But the majority of the time, you kind of lose, don't you?
11:16There can't be any more winners than just a couple of teams a year.
11:22You know, if you spend a lot of years in your football career, you end up losing more games than you win.
11:31But in the long term, to create something, to create a project, you've got to keep going.
11:39You've got to keep that positivity.
11:41You've got to establish a style.
11:43You've got to establish a style of play that the players like, that the fans are entertained by.
11:49It's a priority of our club, not just for this game.
11:53You know, small details in the preparation for this game.
11:55It's all about seeing if we can achieve something in these four remaining league games,
12:03which means that it's been a nice end to the season.
12:10Talking about the immediate future, he had a few injuries going into this game.
12:18Prados seemed to be badly injured at the end.
12:22How is he?
12:24He had a knock.
12:25He had a really fierce knock on his tibia.
12:30I don't know how serious it is, but it's only had a quick look as he came into the dressing room.
12:37We've got to have tests, but it does look quite serious.
12:50What do you think about the tackle on Prados?
12:52Prados?
12:54Should he have been sent off, Lindelof?
12:56I didn't really see it, to be fair.
13:04I didn't...
13:04Prados isn't the type of player who kind of goes down easily.
13:07I don't know.
13:11I don't know.
13:13I didn't think at the time it was a sending off, but I've not really seen it close up.
13:18You can't really do anything about that now, can you, anyway?
13:20We had to defend with only 10 players when it was the equalizer, because we had the player down injured.
13:31Apart from, like, 7-1 scoreline, what about the refereeing in both games?
13:40I could say stuff...
13:40I mean, you know, you could take an opinion that all the controversial decisions were in favor of Bilbao,
13:55and the Manchester people would say that all are in favor of them.
14:03It was.
14:04It was in the build-up to the equalizing goal that there was a player down injured.
14:09I will look at it on TV.