Valverde on Bilbao europa league exit at Manchester Utd

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Valverde on Bilbao europa league exit at Manchester Utd  08/05/2025  Old Trafford, Manchester, UK  Uefa europa league semi final

Transcript

00:00I'll judge everything by the final score. It was a wide scoreline.

00:04When we were at moments during the first half, we got in their box, we were close, we were pushing and pressing high.

00:13We felt like we had half a chance when it was 1-0.

00:19You know, it was good to get ahead in the second leg.

00:22But then, above all, in the last 10 minutes, we were poor towards the end of the second half, those last 10 minutes.

00:30They scored a goal at a key time.

00:40We've not been that bad, though, you know.

00:43They scored three more goals when our form dropped a little bit.

00:50It was almost like a walk in the park for them at the end, but we know it wasn't like that.

00:54You know, if you're out there on the field, it's not been easy for them in the first leg or the second.

00:57We congratulate United.

01:02We know that the tie was a lot more even, Stephen, than the scoreline suggests.

01:08But, you know, if you take away those last few minutes, it was a much more even game.

01:16I'd like to know if – what's the dressing room?

01:25What has the dressing room been like, and what sort of apprenticeship has it been for a lot of the younger players?

01:30From the start of the season in this competition, we've been learning all the way.

01:35We always had the hope of arriving at the final in our own ground.

01:42You know, it was a big incentive having that final in Bilbao.

01:46That was our big hope and desire.

01:48We want to go step by step.

01:50I think we've had a great tournament overall, but when you get moments like this against a really strong side, decisive moments.

02:02You know, we kind of gave in a bit in the end, you know.

02:06We conceded at key times, both in the first leg and tonight.

02:11You know, it's a big scoreline, home and away.

02:14We knew it was an upward slope coming here, but we didn't want to come here with the big disadvantage that we had.

02:26We gave everything.

02:27I think a lot of players, it was the first time that they played in European competition.

02:33We've not been in this tournament for a while ourselves.

02:38People learn from these things, and they use them as motivation as well.

02:44But it's true that kind of it all collapsed a little bit towards the end.

02:50The team wasn't great towards the end.

02:52Can you put it into perspective?

02:55Getting to the semifinal, it's okay, isn't it?

02:58It's a reasonable.

02:59The reality is, for us, it's a big success, relatively speaking.

03:03Being able to get this far and take part in a semifinal.

03:10That's a fact in itself, an achievement in itself.

03:13But obviously, you want to achieve more.

03:15You wanted to get all the way to the final.

03:17But what are the feelings at the moment?

03:22Feelings at the end of the game?

03:23Obviously, that wasn't great, but it's been a fantastic tournament.

03:28I think we've done well right from the beginning, back in September.

03:33I'm a bit annoyed.

03:35I've got to say I'm a bittersweet feeling because of what happened in the last 10 minutes.

03:39You know, we would have gone away from here a lot more happy if that hadn't happened.

03:45Knowing that in other conditions or in other circumstances,

03:52I think that to avoid it being knocked out, we could have done a lot more, you know?

03:59We know that the opponent's very, very good and they've got some great players.

04:04We've just got to keep going.

04:07There's no need to beat ourselves up about it.

04:09You know, they've been strong in our area and converted their chances.

04:16That's what they did.

04:19Do you fear that this might have an effect on the league form?

04:22There's some big games coming up at home.

04:24How are we going out of the match here?

04:33Will the four league games left?

04:36How will the morale be after this?

04:38No, I think for sure.

04:41Whenever you're knocked out, it's always painful.

04:43Because you always have that hope that's shattered.

04:48And you always want to carry on and continue in the tournament.

04:52But only one team can win.

04:58We've got some big challenges ourselves in the league at home.

05:02And stuff that we want to achieve.

05:05Sunday, we've got a really big game against Alaves.

05:08We're in fourth place.

05:10And we want to play in the Champions League next season.

05:13If it's possible.

05:18Is it easy after being knocked out like that?

05:21But do you think that the team really stamped their personality on the game?

05:28Would you say pride is a word you could use for this performance?

05:32Let's see.

05:33I mean, I think right now I'm a bit down because of the situation.

05:38I didn't like how we finished the game.

05:41You know, we weren't great.

05:43Those ten minutes.

05:44I think before that, you know, it was a different game, wasn't it?

05:50But you've still got to play those last ten minutes.

05:52Those last ten minutes count as well, you know.

05:54You can't just give up.

05:56But I think we're happy with what we've done this season overall.

06:03And in spite of these two games where we've encountered difficulties,

06:07I still think we've given a good account of ourselves.

06:09Our fans were brilliant.

06:11Really impressive.

06:12What they pass on to us, the support they give us, what they show to everyone.

06:20You know, we've proved to the United and the fans here just what a set of supporters we've got.

06:24They're fantastic.

06:25We did all we could for them.

06:28And we're grateful.

06:28But I think the key now is, for us, we're at this part of the season.

06:35We're all together.

06:36We stick together.

06:37We're united.

06:40It's hard to overcome moments like this.

06:44But, you know, we've got to show that our players are as constant as United.

06:48I think Manchester were very, it was even Steven up to the 70th minute.

07:00But then after that, the first sort of chance they had, they equalized on the night.

07:08Partly, I understand what you're saying, but we always had this big desire and hope to get to the final.

07:17And then with that equalizer, it was almost like it was slipping out of our hands, you know.

07:22But that's just another facet of football, isn't it?

07:25You concede, you've got to reset and try and respond.

07:28I think that we didn't give up, we didn't drop our shoulders, we didn't let our heads get down.

07:37But maybe we weren't pressing quite as high up the pitch.

07:41We were losing a lot of the duels and the tackles.

07:46You know, we tried to score to make it 2-1 again after they equalized, but when people like Garnacho is a great player,

07:56but when you get Ahmad and Diallo coming on, Ahmad Diallo coming on, it freshened everything up, you know,

08:02and I think it made the difference.

08:09So you've had a really busy season, two games a week, continual games week after week.

08:18Do you think it takes it out of you, this competition, all these demands that we put on the team week after week,

08:25do you think you can keep it going to the end of the season?

08:28Well, if we want to take part in European competition, this is how it is, you know, two games a week.

08:34Every team has to do that, has to cope with that.

08:37Anybody who's in the Champions League or the Europa League, you have to cope with these fixtures.

08:43Demands high levels of concentration, fitness,

08:45and a mental approach to focusing on your bigger picture and your, you know, larger objectives.

08:55Manchester United are a team that are classically in the Champions League.

09:01You know, they can maybe have certain players playing at 70% and they can still win games,

09:07the strength of the squad that they've got.

09:09We've got to be united together, we've got to battle, fight hard.

09:17You know, physically, we're starting to feel it a little bit.

09:20We've got those injuries, people who weren't here tonight.

09:24You know, the mental approach as well is important.

09:28We've got to stay strong mentally.

09:32There's lots of games, it is what it is.

09:35We're in this competition, we've got to cope with it.

09:37So, at the end of the game,

09:46do you think San Mames was the key?

09:50Conceding three, the sending off.

09:53Yeah, I think the key to the tie was in San Mames.

09:56It was one there, really.

09:59You know, we didn't convert our chances at the beginning of the game last week,

10:03and then we conceded, we had the man sent off.

10:08It meant that we had to really change our tactic when we were playing away from home.

10:13We had to go for it here.

10:16You know, it was a fair result, but it was one that was tough to take and hard to react to.

10:22We would have liked to have come into tonight with the scoreline being closer.

10:26You know, we were trying all we could tonight to get that second goal, which would have been vital.

10:33But I think, yeah, the first game was decisive.

10:35Sometimes we focus on things that we don't win and what we don't achieve.

10:49What are the positives that you can take from this season?

10:52You know, we've been earning and winning lots of things this season.

10:57But in football, in reality, there's lots of people who lose all the time.

11:09You can only have – you might win a semifinal, you might win a cup every so often in your career.

11:12But the majority of the time, you kind of lose, don't you?

11:16There can't be any more winners than just a couple of teams a year.

11:22You know, if you spend a lot of years in your football career, you end up losing more games than you win.

11:31But in the long term, to create something, to create a project, you've got to keep going.

11:39You've got to keep that positivity.

11:41You've got to establish a style.

11:43You've got to establish a style of play that the players like, that the fans are entertained by.

11:49It's a priority of our club, not just for this game.

11:53You know, small details in the preparation for this game.

11:55It's all about seeing if we can achieve something in these four remaining league games,

12:03which means that it's been a nice end to the season.

12:10Talking about the immediate future, he had a few injuries going into this game.

12:18Prados seemed to be badly injured at the end.

12:22How is he?

12:24He had a knock.

12:25He had a really fierce knock on his tibia.

12:30I don't know how serious it is, but it's only had a quick look as he came into the dressing room.

12:37We've got to have tests, but it does look quite serious.

12:50What do you think about the tackle on Prados?

12:52Prados?

12:54Should he have been sent off, Lindelof?

12:56I didn't really see it, to be fair.

13:04I didn't...

13:04Prados isn't the type of player who kind of goes down easily.

13:07I don't know.

13:11I don't know.

13:13I didn't think at the time it was a sending off, but I've not really seen it close up.

13:18You can't really do anything about that now, can you, anyway?

13:20We had to defend with only 10 players when it was the equalizer, because we had the player down injured.

13:31Apart from, like, 7-1 scoreline, what about the refereeing in both games?

13:40I could say stuff...

13:40I mean, you know, you could take an opinion that all the controversial decisions were in favor of Bilbao,

13:55and the Manchester people would say that all are in favor of them.

14:03It was.

14:04It was in the build-up to the equalizing goal that there was a player down injured.

14:09I will look at it on TV.

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