Alright folks, buckle up because tracking down tonight’s Athletic Bilbao vs Girona lineups was way more frustrating than I thought it’d be. Here’s how my messy afternoon went down, trying to get this info before kickoff.
First, I grabbed my usual coffee, fired up the laptop around 2 PM, and figured I’d check the big sports sites like I always do. Boom. Instant headache. Nothing solid. Just old articles saying “likely starters” or “probable XI” from days ago. Useless for actual confirmed lineups. Need the real deal for this blog post, you know?
The Rumor Mill Starts Grinding
Started seeing tweets buzzing about key misses. For Bilbao, names like Yeray Alvarez and Iñigo Lekue kept popping up. Talk about injury recovery delays. But tweets are tweets – unreliable. Needed proof. Jumped onto the Bilbao fan forums. Total noise! Half the people were arguing tactics, the other half posting memes. Zero official sauce.
Girona side? More whispers. Saw two separate accounts saying Yangel Herrera might be out – suspension or fitness thing, couldn’t get a clear story. And David López missing? That name popped up a couple times. Felt like chasing my own tail!
Official Sources? Slow As Molasses!
Kept hitting refresh on the official club websites and La Liga page around 4 PM. Seriously slow. Bilbao site still showing the UD Las Palmas lineup graphic. Girona’s page was showing ads for jerseys, but no team sheet. Could have screamed!
Took a gamble around 5:20 PM, checked a usually dependable app I use. Finally, some semi-reliable leaks started filtering through about 90 mins before kickoff. Saw it confirmed:No Yeray for Bilbao. Paredes looked likely to slot in at the back. For Girona? No Yangel Herrera listed anywhere. Saw Eric Garcia mentioned instead. Still no word on David López.
The Final Reveal (And Relief!)
Finally, finally, FINALLY, like an hour before the whistle, official tweets dropped. Gave me the concrete list:
- Athletic Bilbao Misses: Yeray Alvarez (injury), Iñigo Lekue (injury). Nico Williams ONLY on the bench, apparently not fully fit either? That explained the earlier Nico rumors.
- Girona FC Misses: Yangel Herrera (suspended), David López (injury). Miguel Gutiérrez not fit enough to start either.
Banged my head on the desk. Took almost four hours of frantic searching, sifting through trash rumors, and waiting on slow sites to pin this down. Why is getting a simple confirmed starting lineup with absentees always such a battle?! Anyway, there it is. Hope the game’s less stressful than getting this info was!