Inaki Williams, Athletic Bilbao winger, spoke at a press conference on the eve of the match against Roma at the Olimpico, valid for the first day of the new Europa League.
Here we are in the land of Totti and De Rossi, would you like to stay your entire career at Athletic? Tomorrow you could meet Hermoso who you have challenged many times in La Liga, what kind of defender is he and what do you think of Roma’s defense?
“Spending your entire career at the club would be a great source of pride, as far as my brother is concerned, he should be the one to answer this question: what I can tell you is that we want to play for as long as possible with the Athletic shirt, we have a lot of fun playing together, we have also achieved the dream of playing in Europe together. We will play against a very physical team with a lot of quality both in defence and attack. We have seen videos of the team with the new coach, they are a team that defends very well with man-marking, but we also have our strengths and I expect a quality match”.
How is the team doing?
“I’m super excited, we’re all happy and really want to do well. For us it’s a new experience, for others who have been lucky enough to play in European competitions it’s a welcome return but we all want to do well”.
What does it mean to return to play in Europe?
“After several years we are here, there has been a lot of work, a lot of joy and ambition to do well.”
Here in Italy he scored his first goal for Athletic.
“For me it’s a beautiful memory, it was a very beautiful moment to make my debut in Europe in a stadium like the one in Turin, and I was also lucky enough to score the first goal, let’s hope we can repeat it. I read somewhere that I was Athletic’s last scorer in Europe and I hope it can be the first of this new cycle”.
The final will be played in San Mames. How do you handle this extra pressure?
“The best thing is to approach this year as we approached the cup last year. It is clear that playing a final in Bilbao must not bring an extra burden of pressure. We have a path with many quality matches, the best thing is to proceed one step at a time”.
Eight very beautiful and high-level matches await you.
“We know that finishing in the top eight would save us a round, we’re aiming for that but if we don’t manage to do it we shouldn’t worry because we know that the teams are strong and competitive. Tomorrow we face one of the tournament’s favourites. On the pitch we have to show our potential. We’re returning to Europe after several years, there’s no better opportunity to demonstrate our ambition”.
Your brother said he made the decision to stay at Athletic after talking to you. How do you feel about this decision in hindsight?
“I see him very happy to have stayed. A few days ago he told me he has no regrets about this decision. It’s beautiful to share this passion with my brother, I hope it can last as long as possible”.