Athletic Bilbao and Manchester United go head-to-head in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League semifinal in the San Mames Stadium on Thursday night.
Spanish Copa del Rey winners Athletic Bilbao on Sunday announced Alex Berenguer has signed a new contract that will keep him at the club until June 2027.
Athletic Bilbao continued with their policy of tying down key players with the news on Monday that veteran left-back Yuri Berchiche has signed a new one-year contract.
Athletic will miss the pace of winger Nico Williams after his red card against Betis last weekend, although Alex Berenguer has shown he is an able replacement.
The striker, who recently declared internationally for his mother's homeland of Ghana, opened the scoring for Athletic and then missed a penalty, before leaving the pitch early in the second half after being caught on his right ankle in a challenge.
Team manager Ernesto Valverde had earlier clarified that they are not willing to take any kind of risk with Lionel Messi and want him to regain complete fitness and be match ready before asking him to don the Barcelona kit.
It was only in the 88th minute of the match that Aritz Aduriz came on the field and scored the match deciding goal 65 seconds after he was sent on the pitch.
Belgium number one Courtois has been strongly linked with a move to Real Madrid and has not returned to Chelsea training following the World Cup.
Rico, 33, celebrates his fifth season with Bilbao, his team since the summer of 2013 when he arrived from Granada, reports Efe.
“The truth is we struggled a lot, especially in the second-half,” Barca midfielder Sergio Busquets said.
