Athletic Club get into a winning rhythm and climb up to third in LALIGA EA SPORTS

Athletic Club are gaining momentum and hitting their stride. Although Ernesto Valverde’s side struggled in the opening weeks of the season, they’re now up and running and rising up the table. In just one week they have won three matches, collecting all nine of the points that were available to them to move into third place in the LALIGA EA SPORTS table. 

In their most recent game, they overcame RC Celta by a 3-1 scoreline, defeating one of the other most impressive teams of the season so far. Los Rojiblancos played some very entertaining football, overcoming an Iago Aspas equaliser to press on and take the victory. 

Gorka Guruzeta was the star man for Athletic Club, having already made clear last season that he has what it takes to lead the line for this team. Following the retirement of Aritz Aduriz, Los Leones had been searching for a new and reliable target man and Guruzeta has shown that he can be that man. Since the start of last season, he has scored 16 league goals, the highest tally for a Spanish striker in LALIGA EA SPORTS in that time alongside Borja Mayoral. 

For the Basque team, their happy week began last weekend at the Estadio de Gran Canaria when they achieved a narrow 3-2 victory over UD Las Palmas. That was their first road win of the 2024/25 LALIGA EA SPORTS season, with Nico Williams scoring one and causing problems for the opposition defence throughout. His brother, Iñaki Williams, was another star player that day, providing three assists. 

They then followed that up with a second away win in a row, winning 2-0 at the Estadio Butarque in midweek when they visited CD Leganés. This time it was Dani Vivian who truly stood out. As well as scoring one of the goals that evening, he was excellent in defence as his team earned a clean sheet and he earned the praise of his coach afterwards. With those two wins, as well as the home victory over RC Celta, Los Leones have catapulted themselves up into third place.

Athletic Club’s most exciting season in recent years

After such a good campaign last year, in which they won the Copa del Rey for the first time in 40 years, Athletic Club hope to kick on this term and finish inside the top four and go all the way in the Europa League, especially with the final being held in their own stadium. Of course, with all this excitement comes additional pressure, but this is a club with a squad and a coach who are always ready for battle. 

Ernesto Valverde has this young and ambitious group of players pulling in the same direction. There are world-class players such as European champions Unai Simón, Dani Vivian and Nico Williams, who are surrounded by other great players like Iñaki Williams, Oihan Sancet and Beñat Prados. Although their season began with a draw and a defeat, they responded in the well and are back at the top end of the table, fuelled by their winning mentality.