Athletic Bilbao presented an eleven of significant changes before their confrontation against Valencia on matchday nine of the League. Among the most notable surprises are Hugo Rincón, the right back, and Johaneko, the left back, both players who join coach Marcelo Terzic's scheme after the absence of other starters.
The return of Juan Laporte to defense is another important novelty. The midfielder had been ruled out in the previous match against Rayo, which ended up suspended, but now he returns to occupy his position in the defensive line. The rest of the group remains the same as the one that left in Vallecas, with Unai Simón maintaining the goal and the defense line composed of Rincón, Paredes, Laporte and Johaneko.
In the midfield, Galarreta and Gere continue as pillars, while the forward line remains with Robert Navarro, Canales, Berenguer and Iñaki Williams. Terzic has decided to keep the captain as the number nine striker, leaving Guruzeta and Maroan on the bench. The complete substitutes include Padilla, Vivian, Yeray, Prados, Areso, Yuri, Jauregizar, Rego, Nico Serrano and the young Imga.
Valencia, for its part, will have its new coach Javier Aguirre, who makes his debut at Mestalla. The starting eleven of the red and white team is made up of Dimitrievski, Maffeo, Tárrega, De Haas, Gayà, Pepelu, Guido, Raba, Javi Guerra, Danjuma and Hugo Duro. The match, which will be the last game of the season at the Mestalla stadium before the move to the new venue, will take place at nine at night.
The referee will be Adrián Cordero Vega of the Cantabrian Committee, with David Gálvez Rascón of the Madrid Committee in charge of the VAR from the Las Rozas sports city. With these changes to their squads, both teams are preparing for a duel that promises to be decisive in the points race of the season.