Athletic Club coach Valverde enthusiastic about Roma atmosphere | OneFootball

Athletic Club coach Ernesto Valverde was impressed with Roma, both on and off the field, in the Europa League tie. ‘I hope we can have half the atmosphere they had tonight.’

The supporters had been told to come to the Stadio Olimpico with simple yellow and red flags, so the thousands followed those directives and made it a beautiful sight before kick-off.

It helped the Giallorossi complete their comeback from the Inaki Williams header, turning it around through Angelino and the last-gasp Eldor Shomurodov winner.

At that point, Athletic Club were down to 10 men for the second Yeray Alvarez yellow card.

“I don’t want to talk about the referee,” said Valverde in his press conference.

“He did start handing out cards a bit too early and easily, but I have nothing more to add to that.”

Yeray will therefore be suspended for the second leg in Bilbao next Thursday, while Valverde fears injured Daniel Vivian also won’t be able to recover in time.

Valverde impressed by Roma home fans

epa11945274 AS Roma’ supporters before the UEFA Europa League round of 16 first leg soccer match between AS Roma and Athletic Bilbao at Olimpico stadium in Rome, Italy, 06 March 2025. EPA-EFE/ETTORE FERRARI

“We are strong at home and I hope we can have half the atmosphere they had tonight. It was an extraordinary atmosphere, so passionate. We still hope we can turn it around.

“It’s true that Roma are a good team, they have players like Paulo Dybala, Artem Dovbyk and Matias Soule who can change a game, but we are still playing the second leg on our home turf.

“As soon as we got into the locker room, we were already starting to think about the return match at the San Mames. All we can do is win in our stadium.”

The Shomurodov winner came with the last kick of the match, just as the 10 men of Athletic Club thought they’d done enough for a 1-1 draw.

“There is never a good moment to concede a goal, but when we scored, they started to push constantly. We had it all under control, except for when we were a man down and they found the decisive move. When a game is balanced, there is never a good time to concede.”

While Athletic Club are considered by many to be the favourites to win the Europa League this season, Valverde warns this will be a very tough Round of 16 tie.

“Roma are a strong team, they are not weak. When you are repeatedly forced back, you tend to just kick the ball away.

“Something didn’t work tonight, but we must look forward.”