Athletic Bilbao: Basque-ing in Glory

August 2012

Athletic Bilbao 4 – 0 Almeria

Celta Vigo 1 – 3 Athletic Bilbao

La Liga Table

Our Player of the Month

Markel Susaeta

Meanwhile Aritz Aduriz was scoring the majority of the goals, Susaeta was creating chance after chance for his teammates. Being responsible for most of Aduriz’s goals and even notching two goals himself, it’s no wonder he’s our player of the month.

Oceano’s Verdict

A perfect start to our season leaves us top of the table with Barcelona. I couldn’t ask for more. We have gelled well after being handed two reasonable opening fixtures but now the business really starts with clashes versus Levante, Real Madrid, Villarreal and Barcelona all next month. We’ve got to bring our A game.

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Top 10 La Liga Transfers
In & Out

Summer 2012

FC Barcelona – Neymar Jr - £48 million
FC Barcelona – Robert Lewandowski - £45 million
Real Madrid – Asier Illarramendi - £36 million
Real Madrid – Isco - £25 million
FC Barcelona – Stevan Jovetic - £21.5 million
FC Barcelona – Holger Badstuber - £16.75 million
Atletico Madrid – Christian Maggio - £7.5 million
Atletico Madrid – Silvestre Varela - £6.5 million
Atletico Madrid – Loic Remy – £6.5 million
Atletico Madrid – Imanol Agirretxe - £3.4 million



AS Monaco – Radamel Falcao - £51 million
Napoli – Pedro Rodriguez - £22 million
Bayern Munich – Thiago Alcantara – £21 million
Manchester United - Antoine Griezmann - £21 million
Manchester City - Alvaro Negredo – £20 million
AS Monaco – Hector Moreno - £16.5 million
Chelsea – Adriano - £11.5 million
Paris Saint-Germain – Sami Khedira - £11 million
Borussa Dortmund – Raul Albiol - £7 million
Napoli – Jose Callejon - £7 million

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September 2012

Athletic Bilbao 5 – 1 Levante

Real Madrid 0 – 0 Athletic Bilbao

Villarreal 0 – 3 Athletic Bilbao

Athletic Bilbao 2 – 1 FC Barcelona

La Liga Table

Our Player of the Month

Aritz Aduriz

Aritz Aduriz was again our key performer, scoring vital goals one day and goals galore another. Aduriz now has 9 goals in 6 league games making him joint top in the charts with Robert Lewandowski.

Oceano’s Verdict

We were simply fantastic this month, in a period we were expected to struggle. We didn’t quite know what to expect from Levante as they had lost to both Real Madrid and Barcelona but we made good use of morale and battered them 5-1. Villarreal again was one for the experts to decide as they could have provided a shock early one here but we always looked the better side and could have won by more. Real Madrid needed no introduction and we were delighted to return home with a point. As for Barcelona, we played our cards right and got an immense results which will hopefully catapult us this season.

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GURPEGI ON HIS WAY OUT

Oceano Cruz has today confirmed that captain Carlos Gurpegi could leave the club in the following transfer window after showdown talks.

The Athletic Bilbao boss stated he’d been approached by Gurpegi in training this week after it became public knowledge of interest from other clubs.

Gurpegi told Oceano he is after a fresh challenge after spending a lengthy 11 years with the Basque club.

“I was approached by Gurpegi and we had a long chat concerning the team. We took many factors about the team into consideration and at which point he revealed his desire to leave.

“We will respect his decision and agree that it is the right time for him to leave the club, therefore granting his request.”

The 31 year old holding midfielder has been linked with a move to Granada, Osasuna and Celta Vigo with expected to launch bids soon.

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October 2012

Real Valladolid 0 – 3 Athletic Bilbao

Real Betis 1 – 3 Athletic Bilbao

Athletic Bilbao 3 – 0 Getafe

Alcorcon 0 – 2 Athletic Bilbao

La Liga Table

Our Player of the Month

Benat

Benat this month seems to be at the centre of everything. He’s dictating the game perfectly as he should and picking out through balls for fun. He’s been with us for 3 months but it’s as if he’s been our maestro for 3 years (Although he was once a Bilbao player before moving to Real Betis).

Oceano’s Verdict

Our month was far less complicated that it was last month in terms of opposition so I expected us to win the majority of our games. Indeed we did and I’m super happy too as I was a bit wary of what Real Betis could offer. We won all our games and continue in top spot. Fantastic!!!