Fernando Llorente injured as Marcelo Bielsa intensifies training – La Liga News
Athletic Bilbao will be without talismanic striker Fernando Llorente, as Osasuna travel to San Mames. The attacker injured himself in the intense training regimen put in effect by manager Marcelo Bielsa.
Bilbao completed a demanding training session on Friday, in preparation to their game on Monday. Bielsa lost his voice during training as limits of his players were broken in the high intensity convention.
New developments could be seen in Bilbao’s style of play, as the coach stressed on relentless pressure, the defenders aiding in attack, and possible changes in formation. Iturraspe was seen as deployed in midfield while, De Marcos will slot back in his
left side role.
However, there is still time to prepare for the match and a lot has to be seen about the team in the coming days.
One thing is clear that Athletic will enter the ground biting, with a purpose to dominate their opponents. They have been training to improve themselves on the ball and make sure it is not lost without a fight.
Los Leones have not won a match at San Mames and Bielsa looks to be adamant not to continue this horrible run of form in front of home crowd.
Nevertheless, they will have to do this without the services of Fernando Llorente, who had to retire early with a knee problem. He suffered an overload, but it should not prevent him from contesting against Los Rojillos.
This is the first time Bielsa has made his players undergo the high demanding physical exercises. The preparations continued for nearly an hour and half and did not even stop to give directions until the end.
Bielsa was not the only one directing his players during the session. The players listened to four different voices that asked them to give their maximum efforts.
Good news for Bilbao fans was the return from injury of Ander Herrera. The Basque player trained with the reserves.
Herrera will be on the bench, if everything goes according to plan between now and Monday. If he comes on the pitch, it will only be his third appearance since making the move from Real Zaragoza.