Athletic Bilbao technical director Ernesto Valverde made a comparison between Beşiktaş and Fenerbahçe after the defeat.
Here are Valverde’s words:
“We had a match 3 days ago, but we could have been better. We left Beşiktaş’s forwards very empty. They needed to win and they played aggressively. Today we could have had more ball. We could have been better on the field. We also had opportunities. The atmosphere was also very strong. Playing like this It was difficult. Beşiktaş was the better team and they got the win they deserved.
If we conceded 4 goals, something went wrong. Beşiktaş caused us problems today. We gave positions in counter attacks. Beşiktaş has very quality players and good coaches. Beşiktaş was the more willing side. We need to learn from these and improve ourselves. We won against Osasuna but lost today. Because Beşiktaş was stronger. We are also a strong team, Beşiktaş is also a strong team. We need to accept the outcome and look ahead. We suffered the most different defeat this season. We do our best against our competitors. You always have to be strong in Europe. I always want to win. Beşiktaş also had problems, but they recovered. There are things we need to learn.
We are a team that always looks forward. We always think about the attack. While we were 3-1 behind, I talked to my players saying ‘we have to attack forward’. Average is important, but Beşiktaş had a lot of attacks with 3 players. “We couldn’t reflect what we wanted on the field today.”
FENERBAHÇE – BEŞİKTAŞ COMPARISON
“Fenerbahçe has good players. We won that day, we lost today. If I say ‘Fenerbahçe is better’, Beşiktaş fans will be angry, and if I say ‘Beşiktaş is better’, Fenerbahçe fans will be angry.”
“AN EXTRAORDINARY ATMOSPHERE”
“There was an extraordinary atmosphere. I like such an atmosphere too. It is a challenging atmosphere for the opponent and the referee, but we enjoy playing in such an atmosphere.”