Athletic Bilbao’s hopes of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League took a painful hit on Monday when the Basque club could only draw 0-0 at last-place UD Almeria despite playing with a man advantage for most of the second half.
A win would have taken Athletic above Atletico Madrid into fourth place in La Liga, but manager Ernesto Valverde’s team struggled against a defensive home side.
“We feel it’s not enough, because we had the ball for so much of the game,” Athletic’s Oscar de Marcos said. “It’s frustrating not to have more clear chances when the game was in our favor.”
Photo: AFP
Missing top scorer Gorka Goruzeta and in-form winger Nico Williams, Athletic played against 10 men after winger Largie Ramazani was sent off in the 53rd minute.
Raul Garcia hit the post for Athletic in what was his 600th league appearance, but the team’s stuttering start to the year will concern Valverde.
After winning nine of their 11 games from the start of November last year through the middle of last month, Athletic have since picked up only four of 12 points.
Meanwhile, Almeria could celebrate what was just their seventh point of the season — all from draws. The have not won a league match all season and have lost 17. They sit 13 points from safety.
The result means Athletic remains in fifth, two points behind Atletico Madrid. Real Madrid tops the table, five points clear of Girona.
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