Eduardo Berizzo spoke to the media hours before the team's trip to Bilbao and made his expectations for the match in San Mamés clear: "I expect a difficult match. An always solid opponent, even more so at home in a big stadium with a great atmosphere. I'm not going to achieve anything by talking about their strengths, those of an intense side, who impose their physical strength on the ball and in tackles. Arial balls will be a problem to resolve and it will be a great match to play. We have to push up, impose directness and impose possession and control of the ball to do them harm".
On the absence of the two Argentinian internationals in the latest international break, the idea is that both play in Moscow: "Mercado came back physically fine but exhausted by the two matches. Éver came back with a knock on his heel and very tired from the demands of the week. Muriel came back better, and that's why he makes the squad, but we'll his look at his place in the team in the next few hours. With Banega, we hope he recovers well, that the heel recovers and that it won't be an obstacle in travelling to Moscow. His absence is to do with not just fatigue but with the knock worrying us too".
"Éver came back with a knock on his heel and very tired from the demands of the week"
Carriço and Pareja are also injured, prompting questions about the possible role of Pizarro: "Even Geis is an option for us there. We have the option of converting two centre-midfielders in place of the centre-backs if we need to do so. Pizarro and Geis have played there, Escudero could convert also, and those are the options to replace the injured players. Even so, Kjaer and Lenglet are amongst the strongest players we have and I trust them if they have to play more than once".
Going into more depth on absences, he made it clear there won't be any hurry in recoveries: "Of course it's a setback, but my job is to find solutions. Navas has played at full-back and if he needs to double up with Corchia he'll do so. We've suffered two serious injuries to two centre-backs, but it doesn't have anything to do with the past. They've reared their head recently, they haven't dragged from the past, they're a part of the game. Recovery will depend on the development of the operations. In Carriço's case it's a bit more prolonged, but we'll have to see with his rehabilitation. I will never put the players at risk by making them return too soon".