Athletic Bilbao vs Villarreal preview - Llorente issues rallying call

Posted Saturday, September 24, 2011 by PA

Athletic Bilbao striker Fernando Llorente has issued a rallying call to his side's supporters as the Basque outfit look to put their miserable start to the season behind them against Villarreal.

Athletic find themselves stuck in the bottom three ahead of this weekend's fixtures after taking just one point from their first four Primera Division matches under new coach Marcelo Bielsa.

That solitary point came from their opening fixture at home to Rayo Vallecano and since then they have been beaten by Espanyol, Real Betis and Malaga, leaving the club with their worst start to a campaign in years.

Now, Athletic will attempt to repair the damage against Villarreal, and Llorente hopes the San Mames crowd can play their part.

"Now more than ever we are going to need our fans. We hope that they will help us on Saturday," said the Spain international.

"We are focused and determined to change the dynamic and move forward."

He added: "It's logical that the fans can be a little worried by the situation of the team. But they should be calm because I'm sure the team is going to respond well. Now the most important thing is to win.

"It doesn't matter how we play, we need to get the three points so we can start seeing things in a different way."

Villarreal have also made a disappointing start to the campaign by their standards, picking up just one point from their opening three games before getting themselves up and running on Tuesday with their first victory, a 2-0 win over Real Mallorca.

Now the Yellow Submarine face what coach Juan Carlos Garrido has described as a crucial four-match run of league fixtures against Athletic, Real Zaragoza, Getafe and Levante.

"We have ahead of us four key matches, because we have the possibility of getting back on track and making it clear that we can finish at the top. We want to feel like an important team again," he said.

Regarding the encounter, Garrido added: "Athletic are a very difficult opponent who have played good games despite their bad results. They are an historic club, with tradition, and as well as that they have important players.

"Right now they are changing their style and they need to win the same as us, as we are two teams who ought to be near the top of the table."