After a narrow victory against Real Madrid in Valdebebas, Athletic suffered a major setback. Costa Adeje Tenerife defeated a red-white team who were penalized for conceding goals at the back and lack of efficiency up front. The locals were far more pragmatic and decisive and won a landslide victory, moving them closer to European status.

A “small hand” brings the Bilbao team, which has maintained a long unbeaten record, back to harsh reality. Soccer has something like this. A few days ago, Javi Lerga’s side were an unassailable opponent against the second-placed team, who had Olatz Santana between the posts after Nanclares’ early injury, and although they took advantage of the only chance in front of goal, they conceded too much against Eliodoro Rodríguez López, and this time the starting goalkeeper made a serious mistake when blocking the ball safely, allowing the local team to make it 2-0 and finally concede the goal.

Javi Lerga’s team made several changes compared to the eleven that had just defeated the merengue team last Tuesday, and essentially took control of the match from the kick-off. Coach Eli Martin’s team were happy to accept. The local manager, as in previous stages at Eibar, was strong at the back with a five-man defense and looked for surprises on the counter-attack. The bet paid off.

After Paola was given the first counter-attack option, Athletic began to participate in the attack, giving clear chances to Clara Pinedo, Agote and Valero. The response from the Tenerife team was overwhelming. Good combination on the flanks between Natalia Ramos and Uzrawi and a well-defined pass from Uzrawi allowed Paola to score from close range. The score was 1-0 in the 18th minute.

Although the lionesses insisted on aggressive proposals, the walls of Tenerife were gradually strengthened. In fact, the biggest chance before the break was for the local goal scorer himself. Chiciarello was aware of the dangerous situation in which centre-back Fatu picked up a yellow card followed by a red card, and opted to bring on Cinta after the break.

Seeing that Athletic’s dominance was not fruitful, Rerga started using the bench. Zubieta and Azcona were his first two assets. Eli Martin relied on Moreno and Coco Ange. Olatz Santana was unable to safely block the ball inside the area, but the game stayed that way until central Elba chased the play to the end and took advantage of the rebound to make it 2-0.

The Athletic did not give up and criticized this much. Tenerife were solid at the back and eventually scored, taking advantage of Bilbao’s increasingly desperate attempts to close the gap on the scoreboard. Alexandra, Coco Ange himself and the recently incorporated Irache scored the last three local goals in the final 12 minutes of the game.