Athletic Bilbao vs Real Sociedad Preview

Athletic Bilbao could not have picked a better time to face Real Sociedad and get a rare win against their Basque rivals with the two sides squaring off on Tuesday at the San Mames stadium.

Real Sociedad, who have not lost to Athletic since 2012, have won three of the last five derbies and are in the midst of a seven-match winless run.

Athletic need a victory to maintain their push for European football and Athletic defender Carlos Gurpequi told the Spanish press: “We are really hungry to beat them and keep fighting to finish seventh in the standings.

“We’ve had a poor run against Real Sociedad in recent times but statistics are there to be broken.

“This game means a lot to us just as it does to them.

“It’s a beautiful game to play and we have no doubt that they will come here determined to win and to end their season in the best possible way.”

Athletic followed their 4-0 triumph over Getafe with a 1-0 victory at Cordoba on Friday.

The win, Athletic’s seventh in their last 10 games, lifted Ernesto Valverde’s side to eighth in the standings, just one point adrift of seventh-placed Malaga, who occupy the final Europa League play-off place with five games remaining.

“We want to keep up the pressure on Malaga,” Gurpegui said. “We want them to know that if they slip, we will be ready to overtake them.”

Athletic, who will take on Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final on May 30, have not lost at home in La Liga since February 8.

David Moyes’ La Real are without a win since March 22 and have collected three points since.

Saturday’s goalless draw against Villarreal dropped the San Sebastian-based club to 12th in the standings, seven points adrift of Athletic.

“Derbies are always special,” Moyes said. “There are no favourites in a derby.

“We need to play well and create goalscoring opportunities.

“It has been a difficult season for us and we want to give our fans something to smile about.”

Lack of goalscoring has been La Real’s biggest problem of late, as they have failed to find the back of the net in three of their last four league games.