• Narration: So we live the game
  • First, this is the classification

Iker Muniain took off his shackles and flew backwards, defying the power of the south wind that so terribly infused Athletic when he perceived it in San Mamés. Bracelet on the arm, ball on the feet, going to the rescue of his team when he needed it most, when the anxiety threatens his stability after five games without winning. Espanyol was a minimum obstacle in the majestic rise of Muniain, which with two and a half goals - the last one in a row with Víctor Gómez - became the absolute protagonist of a day of extreme efficiency of those of Gaizka Garitano . He did not unleash Athletic, but he had enough to beat a fragile and harmless Espanyol that left terrible feelings in his passage through San Mamés. [Narration and statistics: 3-0]

Athletic came out of his little crisis with the same players who put him in it and it is up to Garitano to recognize his faith in his own. And theirs, today, do not exceed 15: those who on Wednesday were headlines, De Marcos, Núñez, Beñat and Ibai . No one else, under normal conditions, seems to have a place in their alignments. Against Espanyol, the same ones that lost in the Wanda came out - including Simón , despite the presence of Herrerín - with the exception of Núñez, relieved by Yeray , a risk- seeking bet looking at the precedents.

The eleven, however, hid a surprise. He did not change Garitano pieces, but he did change his position, with Williams on the right, Muniain de mediapunta and Raúl García as center forward. A widely demanded in the street that had never been put into practice: neither with Valverde , nor with Ziganda , nor with Berizzo , nor with Garitano. With that provision, perhaps the former Atlético loses the ability to reach from behind and Bilbao is farther from the goal, but Muniain finds a hole in the position where he performs best, behind the tip. That says the theory, that demonstrated the practice.

A dazzling start

The success of that bet took just four minutes to confirm. Raul tried to receive in the area as a battering ram, Espanyol's defense failed to clear the ball and Muniain appeared from behind to beat Diego López with a shot adjusted to the second post. An excellent start of Athletic and his captain who found continuation after 17 minutes. A corner cleared by the Catalan defender left the ball bouncing on the front so that Muniain hit it with precision towards the Diego López squad.

Espanyol simply was not in the game. Machin could not find the way to spin three passes in a row and suffered from their defensive fragility, despite appearing with a line of five, as is dogma in the Soriano catechism. It took half an hour until Espanyol espabilara. He did it in a frontal foul that Bernardo headed for goal. The play, however, was invalidated by a millimetric offside. Shortly after, a saving hand of Simón prevented the goal of David López in the best-and almost unique-occasion of Espanyol.

The Athletic returned to repeat then in its tendency to retreat in excess when it is with advantage in the marker. A dynamic that has penalized him in the past, but that was going to serve him against a Espanyol with baby teeth that he felt unable to turn around the scoreboard, not even with the changes that Machin introduced in the second half.

His own impotence was frustrating Espanyol, who ended up receiving the third in a counterattack. Between Muniain and Víctor Gómez they introduced the ball into the goal of Diego López for the third time in the game, confirming the victory of Athletic and the great night of his captain.

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