Athletic Bilbao vs Valencia - Valencia coach Pako Ayestaran feeling the heat

Posted Saturday, September 17, 2016 by PA

Coach Pako Ayestaran will take Valencia to Athletic Bilbao on Sunday under intense pressure to claim Los Che's first points of the season.

There has been speculation in the Spanish media this week that defeat for Valencia would spell the sack for Ayestaran, just four months after he replaced Gary Neville.

Los Che sit second bottom in the table without a point after three matches.

Ayestaran has said performances have warranted more, and that he would not resign, while midfielder Alvaro Medran has publicly backed his boss.

"I see it as stupid suggestions that his job is on the line," Medran told the club's official website.

"We are delighted to work with him and we continue to believe in him and in his ideas.

"We are all the way behind him. We are well aware that our start to the campaign has not been good at all but our enthusiasm remains intact.

"We are looking to turn the situation around in Bilbao."

Athletic boss Ernesto Valverde is wary of underestimating a club of Valencia's size.

"Valencia is a team with great players," he told a press conference on Saturday.

"Their results don't show their way of playing."

Athletic have also endured a tough start to the season, picking up their first league points in a 1-0 win at Deportivo La Coruna last weekend.

But they followed it with a 3-0 defeat at Sassuolo to start their Europa League campaign in midweek.

Iago Herrerin started that match in goal, but Valverde confirmed that 21-year-old Kepa Arrizabalaga would return between the posts after he kept a clean sheet in the win at Depor, when he replaced veteran Gorka Iraizoz.

Valverde said: "We have three great goalkeepers, but the one I have chosen for tomorrow is Kepa."