"We haven't been clinical and if we have been, we've got it disallowed’’

Athletic Club coach Ernesto Valverde admitted on Wednesday that his side were poor in their 2-0 defeat to Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup semi-final and stressed that "there is nothing to complain about" the result.

Valverde regretted that Barcelona's good start to the first and second half coincided with their goals and that his players failed to find the net to level the tie, particularly with the two goals disallowed by the VAR for offside to Oscar de Marcos and Nico Williams.

"We tried to keep the game open and alive until the end. It was a pity that one of the two goals didn't get on the scoreboard to put a bit more pressure on Barça," said the coach at the post-match press conference in the Saudi city of Jeddah. 

In his opinion, Athletic ‘struggled to adjust’ at the start and missed a good chance to reach the final: "We weren't accurate and if we were, we got it disallowed. In the end, in front of us, you have to see what we have. We tried to block their approach so that they didn't get in behind us and that entails a risk".

"We are the team we are. We try to make as few mistakes as possible. There's nothing to object to. That's the way the game is," remarked the Basque coach, who made no objections to the two offside calls.

Valverde acknowledged that Lamine Yamal is a "differential player because when he gets the ball, it's not just what he can do, but he has a radar that looks far and near. He is an extraordinary player because the decisions he makes are usually the best," he said.

On the fact that Nico Williams was not in the starting eleven due to his discomfort, Valverde explained that he had not trained for two and a half days due to his ankle discomfort and that yesterday, Tuesday, he was "practically ruled out". 

"Today he was better. We did a test to see if he could be on the bench. We weren't going to risk anything, that's why he was on the bench. For a player who can't train the day before, you have a lot of doubts about him playing in the match," he said.