Athletic defends the Champions League against Betis and Girona wants to cut Rayo

MADRID, 28 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Athletic Club will try this Thursday to defend its current fourth position in LaLiga Santander in a direct duel with Real Betis, while Girona and Rayo Vallecano will also meet in search of key points for their respective interests, in matches corresponding to the day 15 of LaLiga Santander 2022-2023.

At the Benito Villamarín (7:15 p.m.) two of the candidates to fight to play in the next Champions League will meet, such as Betis, sixth classified, and Athletic Club, four, although both tied at 24 points.

The two teams went to the break in a different way, with a clear victory for Ernesto Valverde's men against Valladolid in San Mamés (3-0) and a resounding defeat for Manuel Pellegrini's men in Mestalla against Valencia (3-0), but now they have had time to recharge their batteries for this second part of the season where they want to continue being protagonists.

The Verdiblanco team hopes to provisionally sleep in the 'Champions zone' for what they need to defeat the 'Leones' in a Benito Villamarín where they lost strength in the final stretch before the break with the defeat against the mattress team (1-2) and the tied in the derby (1-1), which broke their good start of five consecutive wins.

To do this, they will try to take advantage of the drop in performance away from an Athletic Club, which has not won in Heliópolis for five years. And it is that the strength in 'La Catedral' of Valverde's men contrasts with the downturn as a visitor, with only two points in his last four outings.

Manuel Pellegrini will have to rebuild his team in defense, since the loss of the suspended Edgar is joined by the still absence of the Argentine world champion Germán Pezzella and the doubt of Víctor Ruiz due to a flu process, so the youth squad Félix could debut garreta. Guido Rodríguez is also out due to his longer rest after winning the World Cup, while Luiz Henrique was called up despite the death of his father and Juanmi could have minutes again after his injury at the beginning of the season.

For his part, Ernesto Valverde faces the game with the good news of not having any injuries in the 'infirmary' so he will be able to align his best eleven with the returns of Íñigo Martínez and Yuri Berchiche, and the possible captain Iker Munian, who lost ownership in recent games.

For its part, LaLiga Santander will officially resume at the Montilivi Stadium (5:00 p.m.) where there will be another direct confrontation, in this case for different objectives, between Girona and Rayo Vallecano, and with the always special reunion of the local coach, Míchel , with which he was the team of his sports life and which he also trained.

The two teams have the clear mission of ensuring permanence for another season in the First Division, something that before the break the franjirrojo was closer, who is eighth with 22 points thanks to a good finish with 12 points out of 18 possible, without any defeat and with merit victories against Real Madrid and at Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán.

Six points away is the Girona team, which also left with a smile to 'disconnect' after two consecutive victories against Athletic Club and Elche, which were added to two draws, one of them meritorious at the Santiago Bernabéu. Both had a Copa del Rey to pick up their rhythm, although with different luck since the Catalan was eliminated by Cacereño and the Madrid player went through penalties against Saguntino.

Despite this, Girona knows the importance of the three points at stake against Andoni Iraola's men, above all due to the fact of playing in their fiefdom, where they have shown themselves to be the most solid, but where they lost last year against this rival in the King's Cup.

Míchel will not be able to count on the defenders Bernardo and Javi Hernández or the midfielder Reinier, but he will be able to count on Yangel Herrera, who is expected to start, and Rodrigo Riquelme. Iraola still has to wait to be able to have Raúl de Tomás up front and will be out due to suspension in defense of Catena, whose position could go to Mumin.

-Thursday 29.

Girona - Rayo Vallecano. Figueroa Vazquez (C.Andaluz)

Betis - Athletic Club. Hernández Hernández (C. Las Palmas) 19.15.

Atletico Madrid - Elche. Cuadra Fernández (C. Balearic Islands) 21.30.

-Friday the 30th.

Getafe - Majorca. Alberola Rojas (C. Castilian-La Mancha) 17.00.

Celtic - Seville. From Burgos Bengoetxea (C.Vasco) 19.15.

Cadiz - UD Almeria. Martínez Munuera (C.Valenciano) 19.15.

Valladolid - Real Madrid. Munuera Montero (C. Andalusian) 21.30.

-Saturday 31.

FC Barcelona - Espanyol. Mateu Lahoz (C.Valenciano) 14.00.

Royal Society - Osasuna. Pizarro Gómez (C.Madrileño) 16.15.

Villarreal - Valencia. Sánchez Martínez (C. Murciano) 16.15.