Athletic returned to Europe six seasons later, although as it is, one of the teams with the most stable squad in the League, five players of those who jumped to the Olympic team survived that time. However, the debut is always complicated, as if every campaign were the first time, and the red and whites accused it during some periods of the game, although they managed to get rid of those nerves as the game progressed, so, in the end, Athletic started a draw in the Roman coliseum, where, among the 63,000 fans, he was supported by 2,500 displaced people from Bilbao, who jumped for joy after Aitor Paredes managed to connect a header in the final stretch to balance a clash that in the second half was red and white . Dovbyk had put the Romans ahead in the first half, but the Bilbao team deserved more in the second and they got it.
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Mile Svilar, Evan Ndicka, Mario Hermoso, Gianluca Mancini, Manu Koné (Leandro Paredes, min. 80), Tommaso Baldanzi (Niccolò Pisilli, min. 62), Bryan Cristante, Angeliño, Zeki Çelik (Saud Abdulhamid, min. 70), Artem Dovbyk (Eldor Shomurodov, min. 80) and Paulo Dybala (Matías Soulé, min. 45)
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Julen Agirrezabala, Andoni Gorosabel (Óscar De Marcos, min. 68), Dani Vivian (Unai Núñez, min. 79), Aitor Paredes, Yuri Berchiche, Unai Gómez (Alex Berenguer, min. 68), Iñaki Williams, Beñat Prados (Ander Herrera, min. 59), Íñigo Ruíz de Galarreta, Álvaro Djaló (Nico Williams, min. 59) and Gorka Guruzeta
Goals
1-0 min. 31: Dovbyk. 1-1 min. 84: Aitor Paredes
Referee Georgi Kabakov
Kouadio Kone (min. 43), Gorosabel (min. 43), Yuri (min. 55), Tommaso Baldanzi (min. 61), De Marcos (min. 82), Nico Williams (min. 93)
Athletic came out well, and achieved two dangerous approaches with long balls, and thanks to the hyperactivity of Beñat Prados, stuck to the right wing and who surprised at the beginning a Roma that had to play long or get lost in horizontal passes, without find the mobility of their forwards, well supported by Bilbao center backs and full backs. Furthermore, a header from Paredes on a corner caused concern in the local parish, but from the 20th minute onwards, Roma, who had started at a fast pace, changed pace, forced the red and whites to get into the area and threatened Agirrezabala. . At some moments, the push of the midfield bottlenecked Athletic, who were unable to string together two passes in a row. The danger was Dovbyk, the striker who is so missed in Girona, and the events showed that red-and-white fear, because shortly after half an hour, he headed in a wonderful pass from Angeliño to put the Roman team ahead.
Athletic’s performance had dropped and Roma took the opportunity to hit hard. Until the end of the first half, nothing else happened, because Valverde’s men did not react and the home team felt comfortable, with the result, but also with the situation, because the Bilbao team conceded the goal.
But in the second half Athletic came out with a different mood, because Roma decided not to risk the slightest. The forwards disappeared, Dovbyk was completely isolated, and only once, after a slip by Paredes, Soulé appeared before Agirrezabala, in an action in which the goalkeeper came out decisively to block the shot.
Furthermore, the changes suited Athletic well, and they choked Roma. Nico Williams appeared to give freshness and imagination to the forward, but it is difficult to get a hand on an Italian team at home, and the Basques had to wait until the 85th minute. Vivian had retired injured, with a cut on his chin, as a boxer in the heat of the fight, and Unai Núñez came out. In the next action, Mancini could only stop Nico with a grab. Berenguer placed the ball to serve, put a great ball into the area, and the recently appeared Núñez touched a header from the baseline so that Paredes, the other center back, also pushed a header into the net to tie the game and make justice.
