On January 16, 1957, at half past two in the afternoon, the timbre on the sixth floor of the number 5 of Luis Briñas de Bilbao street was not sounded. It was a particular domicile, that of the Díaz Pérez. He was played relatives, acquaintances and even brothers from La Salle, from the Santiago Apostle school on Licenciado Poza Street, where the child of the house was studying.
No one had died, nor was any ephemeris celebrated, but Athletic played against Manchester United, in the first leg of the quarterfinals of the European Cup and from the terrace on that floor, the view of the field was spectacular. A free tribune.
when the gate ring, linen, grandfather was heard, put an annoyance gesture and sent Ernesto, his grandson, to open. She was fed up with so much gorron that also gave Charito work, her daughter, who as a good host began to make coffee for visits, while her husband took the brandy. But that day, Lino bought a piggy -shaped piggy with his grandson. “When the doorbell sounds, to which you get in the house in front of the piggy bank and see what it puts,” he said.
Ernesto, who after spending his childhood and his adolescence playing football with Ángel Villar – ahead of the portal next door – then a footballer, then president of the Federation, became a journalist and worked in RTVE until his retirement, made business that afternoon in which San Mamés stained white with a copious snowfall, on the first visit of United to Bilbao.
It was, say those who saw him, one of the most memorable games ever played in the cathedral. He won the Athletic 5-3, after going to rest 3-0. They marked that day Marcaida, Merodio, Arteche and Uribe twice, and at times they overwhelmed the Busby Babes, the Duncan Edwards, Taylor, Violet and Company, many of which died months later in the terrible plane accident of Munich. The return, which was not played in Old Trafford, but in Maine Road, the City field, was another story. With Carmelo Cedrún, the goalkeeper, injured in the knee after a violent action of Taylor, Athletic lost 3-0.
The second time they faced, in 2012, was the sublimation of Marcelo Bielsa’s work at Athletic. In the round of 16 of the European League, the rojiblancos assaulted Old Trafford (2-3) with a score that fell short after the game of the entire team. They marked Llorente, Muniain and Óscar de Marcos, the only survivor of that generation. 8,000 Athletic followers went to Mercanter, the greatest displacement – except in the finals – in its history. On the return, despite the short result (2-1), the Bilbao team signed an exhibition. Gea still has nightmares. The global result of the tie (5-3) remembered that of the first game between both teams. Rooney scored the three English goals, and they did it for the Athletic Llorente and Marcos.
“I don’t remember it, I was little, but they have told me that Muni and Demar made a great game,” says Nico Williams. “De Marcos tells us that we are going to freak out with what we are going to find there,” he confesses in the previous one of the European League semifinals (21.00, Movistar), which is simultaneous with the other game: Tottenham-Bodo Glimt.
The little of the Williams does not want to assume the role of a favorite against United. “They have great players and from the beginning we have faced this tournament with a low profile. Bajini is lived better, as my brother said. I understand the illusion of the people, but we have to play our best role so that everything goes very well.”
In that, Ernesto Valverde also abounds, who will not be able to count on Sancet. “Get to the final? That is the illusion of the people. And that is fine,” he says, but “we have to focus on the game, what to do when the ball is on the right, in the corner. They are players of great talent and we have to counteract them. There are four hobbies that are thinking the same.” The Athletic coach did not know how to explain United’s bad career in his league. “I am an expert in the Premier as a spectator, like many more people,” he ironized. “It is a hard competition and the United has gone wrong. They have certain mechanisms that make them a hard and difficult team.” It is the perspective of Ernesto Valverde, firm in his adherence to the cause. “Everything you get with Athletic always has a special taste for me. You can get things with other teams, but with Athletic you know better and defeats hurt more, because it is Athletic.”
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