The Athletic Bilbao Courier
Match4 Nov 2028
Athletic Bilbao silence Real Sociedad
A derby is never about the football alone, but the football helped: 2‑1, and the away end emptied early. Bragging rights renewed for another season.
Squad6 Nov 2028
The knee: Aimar Solís out for 22 days
22 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Athletic Bilbao lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market6 Nov 2028
Santiago Rodríguez puts it in writing
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Athletic Bilbao, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings6 Nov 2028
The derby has a name on it: Oihan Sancet
Score against anybody else and it is a goal. Score against them and it is a story with your name in it for a decade, and Athletic Bilbao supporters have already started telling it.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Mikel Jauregizar in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Athletic Bilbao this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Nov 2028
A row about effort at Athletic Bilbao
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Oihan Sancet was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout6 Nov 2028
Juan Musso gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings6 Nov 2028
Nobody could get near Mikel Jauregizar
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout6 Nov 2028
A promise honoured at Athletic Bilbao
Something was said to Taty Castellanos and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
In brief
- The dugout Nico Williams has become a man the manager trusts
- Market No place for César De la Hoz in the plan
- The dugout A satisfied Felipe Santana