Athletic Club 2-3 Sporting CP
Ernesto Valverde commented before their game with Sporting CP, knowing that they needed to win to reach the play-offs, that if they had presented this situation to them after the draw, they would have taken it. The improbable progress in the away ball was within their reach on two occasions, but Athletic found themselves wondering if some of their injured stars were available again.
Athletic Club could not have hoped for a better start, as early pressure from San Mames yielded a goal after just three minutes. Another neat move inside the left side of the Sporting box allowed Oihan Sancet the yard he needed, and his shot was laser-directed into the corner to send the home crowd into a frenzy. Struggling at half-time at times, it must have been frustrating for Valverde to see his side relinquish a 12-minute lead. A corner from the left is headed in by Ousmane Diomande.
To their credit, Athletic didn’t budge after that. Los Leones gradually got back on track, and the Portuguese team came under increasing pressure. It was told after half an hour, Gorka Guruzeta hitting the ball in the back half of Sporting. He drove at the post, and when his shot came back inside the post, it was very clever on the rebound, and he finished this time in the top corner. At that point, Athletic had the tricky task of maintaining their aggressiveness, without overcommitting.
Sports prove the lions with a loud roar
The second half started the right way for Athletic without too much worry, but in the last half hour of the game, the legs started to feel the results of their efforts, as Sporting took the tempo up. Just after the hour mark, Geny Catamo found himself free in the backfield, but couldn’t make the right connection. If it was a warning, Athletic didn’t heed it. Moments later, Sporting came back again, and after a lightning exchange on the edge of the box, Francisco Trincao cut through Athletic’s backline, and finished brilliantly past the onrushing Unai Simon.
At this point, Athletic was on the move, but with San Mames giving them all the support they needed, the Basque side reasserted themselves with one last attack in search of a winner. Athletic applied more pressure, and almost went over a couple of times in the final minutes, but Sporting’s threat remained a concern behind Athletic. Adama Boiro has been up against Catamo on the right side of the box for a long time. An exasperated San Mames eased the tension after Felix Zwayer’s VAR review concluded that Boiro had received the ball correctly.
❤️ Sido un honor disputar la @ChampionsLeague con vosotr@s, athleticzales, y con nuestra manera de entender el fútbol. #AthleticSportingCP #Unique in the World 🦁 pic.twitter.com/TXywN37MPz
– Athletic Club (@AthleticClub) January 28, 2026
When Athletic threw players forward, in stoppage time, they were caught. Sporting knew a win could secure a top-eight finish, and they raced ahead in stoppage time. Luis Suarez came in behind and it looked like Simon had kept their European hopes alive with a wonderful one-man save, but Alisson Costa, on the bench, grabbed the rebound, and before the defense could react, he fired low and hard into the hearts of the Athletic support.
Their last place finish was a frustrating 29th, just a point outside the play-offs, but they knew a win was needed to overcome the goal difference they faced. The absence of the two Williams brothers and Aymeric Laporte was evident in this game, which was the ticket to revive a difficult season in San Mames. Too often, their lackluster attack was a problem, but Guruzeta has five goals in Europe, and it was their backline, the foundation of last season’s success that continues to haunt a side struggling to see themselves in the mirror.
