Athletic Bilbao back at Europe’s top table despite departure of top players

Basques have carved out successful niche among big-spending rivals, writes Andy Mitten

Barcelona's Munir El Haddadi, left, duels for the ball against Athletic Bilbao's Aymeric Laporte during a Spanish Primera Liga match at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, Spain, on September 13, 2014Show more

Athletic Bilbao’s fresh-faced players walk from the dressing rooms at their Lezama training ground and into the afternoon Basque drizzle one day in May 2014.

“Big game Friday,” midfielder Ander Herrera says before entering one of the lush pitches on the private side of the training centre.

The other side is open to the public and fans mingle with players as they arrive and leave for training. Athletic’s role in the community is pivotal.

“We’ll have 4,000 fans with us on Friday,” the club’s historian says as Iker Munian walks past. The winger is 21 and has already played almost 200 games for his club since becoming the youngest Athletic player at 16.

Indefatigable midfielder Ander Iturraspe, who made his Spain debut this year, also passes, as does 18-year-old central defender Aymeric Laporte.

Athletic have great players, just not enough of them to win football’s biggest trophies.

It is Athletic’s final training session before a game at Rayo Vallecano in Madrid. A win guarantees fourth spot and a stab at a first Uefa Champions League performance for the Basque-only side since 1998.

It irked some that their smaller neighbours Real Sociedad had reached that stage twice in that time, including last season, when they played Manchester United.

Ernesto Valverde’s side duly triumphed 3-0 against Vallecano and Herrera scored to confirm fourth position, before they paired with a tough play-off tie against Napoli last month.

Herrera did not stay around to enjoy the fruits of his labour, instead moving to Manchester United after they paid his buyout clause during the summer.

One of the richest teams in Spain because of their huge fan base, Athletic are reluctant sellers. They do not need, or want, to spend the money on new players, but they have lost Herrera, Javi Martinez and Fernando Llorente in recent seasons to foreign clubs.

The players argue that they were moving to clubs where they had more chance of winning trophies and, while some fans were happy for them to thrive elsewhere, others felt that they should remain and play for the club on the soil of their birth.

Herrera will be watching tonight and Athletic could do with him, but they boast impressive powers of reinvention. They are incredible given that they draw their talent from a population of 2.6 million, the same size as Greater Manchester, especially as the best Basque players – Xabi Alonso (Bayern Munich), Asier Illarramendi (Real Madrid), Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea), Llorente (Juventus), Martinez (Bayern), and Herrera (United) – play at the biggest clubs in the world.

Athletic drew away to Napoli and then fell a goal behind to a Marek Hamsik goal in the second leg. Their Champions League dream was in danger – then they scored three times in 13 minutes.

The exterior of the 53,000 capacity stadium, which overlooks the Nervion River in central Bilbao, was soon lit up with the Champions League logo and another party ensued in the streets around the stadium.

Athletic are grouped with Porto, BATE Borisov and Wednesday’s home opponents Shakhtar Donetsk, the Ukrainian champions playing home games in the western city of Lviv to avoid the war zone where their stadium has been bombed.

Valverde is an astute, hard coach in his second spell at Athletic. He enjoys a close relationship with president Josu Urrutia, and his loyalty to him led to him spurning offers from other clubs in the close season.

Barcelona were keen on Valverde before appointing Luis Enrique as their coach.

Valverde’s issue lies in the quality of his squad. Herrera-class players are not easily replaced, though his first XI were good enough to beat Barcelona and hold Real Madrid last season.

They were also good enough to be goalless after 79 minutes at Camp Nou on Saturday before conceding twice to lose 2-0.

Their league form suffered when they last faced the dual challenge of domestic and European competition, in the shape of the Europa League, in 2011/12 and 2012/13.

Athletic played 58 games in 2011/12 and slipped to 10th in the league, 12th a season later.

Without European football last year they rose to fourth, while remaining true to their Basque-only principles. Their club is stable and rooted in a proud history.

Their foundation regularly hosts free events for fans to gain a knowledge of wider football culture, and players are encouraged to attend. Captain Carlos Gurpegui takes his role as ambassador to supporters seriously.

Athletic are not this season's Atletico Madrid and do not have the quality to win the league for the first time since 1984, nor reach the Champions League final.

However, thanks to an excellent youth system, plus the instability of their Spanish rivals, they are in a much stronger position than in 2007, when they came close to being relegated for the first time.

Only Barcelona, Real Madrid and Athletic have never been relegated from the top flight.

Tonight, the Basques join that exalted trio as Spain’s representatives in the Champions League, a competition Athletic first played in back in 1956. Real are the only Spanish team to have played ­earlier.

Follow us on Twitter at @SprtNationalUAE