Bilbao a side worthy of more recognition

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/01/2012 (4987 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

One of the tragedies of Spanish soccer is the fact that La Liga, which is supposedly one of the best, if not the best, leagues in the world, can only be understood and discussed through the lens of El Clasico.

The mortal conflict between Real Madrid and Barcelona overshadows every other match, every other storyline, to the extent that one can easily forget the presence of the 18 other teams in the division. Some of those teams are very good; many deserve to be talked about on their own merits. In the galaxy of stars that is La Liga, El Clasico is the sun. And when it shines the stars disappear.

Athletic Bilbao are one side that deserves to be seen. There are others, of course — resurgent Valencia, feel-good Levante and mega-moneyed Malaga to name a few — but Bilbao are putting together the type of season that, in any other league, would have been leading the sports pages for weeks.

Of course, there’s a reason why we’re finally turning our attention their way as the schedule reaches its midway point. Bilbao visit Real Madrid on Sunday in a match that, aside from potentially building on an unbeaten streak nearly four months old, has a lot to do with the Madrid-Barcelona battle atop the table. Bilbao are visible through the Clasico lens this weekend, and a good result in the capital on Sunday could potentially change the destination of the title.

They’ve been in this position before. Bilbao, after all, are the side that presented Madrid the advantage they currently hold in the standings.

Two-and-a-half months ago, with Barcelona nipping at Madrid’s heels (and on a clean-sheet streak of more than 900 minutes), Bilbao made a stand at their San Mamés stadium that not only very nearly toppled the league and European champions, but also created a blueprint for getting a result against the Catalans — a blueprint Getafe followed to the letter three weeks later when they beat Barcelona 1-0.

What Bilbao did was something Real Madrid have been unable to do in their last three matches against their archrivals — they didn’t lose. In fact, they very nearly won. Lionel Messi’s stoppage time equalizer ensured a splitting of the points in Basque country, but by then Bilbao had been reduced to 10 men through the expulsion of Fernando Amorebieta.

Amorebieta, it should be said, was simply dominant until being shown the exit after receiving a second yellow card in the 90th minute. Whether keeping his concentration and composure in his own 18-yard box or bravely charging off his line to challenge Messi, he was the prototype of the sort of defender a side simply must have to contend with the Barcelona attack.

Not that he was singularly responsible for the 2-2 in November, or a run of form that has taken Bilbao into the Copa del Rey quarter-finals, the Europa League knockout round and up to fifth in the domestic table. Manager Marcelo Bielsa deserves the lion’s share of the credit for turning Bilbao into a legitimate Spanish heavyweight. Imaginative, strict and tactically astute — and all at the same time — the Argentine has already been touted as a possible replacement for Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola, if and when the 41-year-old should leave the club.

For now Bielsa is working on a project he has every reason to be proud of, that after just seven months has his fingerprints all over it. And while the draw with Barcelona was certainly a feather in the cap, a win against Real Madrid would surely take the cake.

Athletic Bilbao are a side worth admiring, whether through the lens of El Clasico or plainly, as they are. For a side battling to be noticed among the anonymity of modern Spanish soccer, that’s about as high a compliment as you can pay.

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