Athletic Club did not go beyond a goalless draw at the Nuevo Mirandilla against a Cádiz team in which the Argentine Mauricio Pellegrino, substitute for Sergio González, made his debut on the bench. The draw is of little use to Cádiz, which has gone 18 games without winning and is still in relegation positions. Athletic remains two points behind Barcelona.
The match had the excitement of equality on the scoreboard, but it was quite boring. Athletic, who had just eliminated the Blaugrana in the Cup, lacked freshness. Cádiz was a little more intense and was closer to the goal, especially in the first half.
Athletic appeared at the Nuevo Mirandilla without the Williams brothers in the eleven and with a pair of forwards made up of Adu Ares and Villalibre, with a midfield managed by Ander Herrera, all of them regular substitutes. In the first 45 minutes there were only two chances, both from Cádiz. The clearest came in the 23rd minute in a shot by Alcaraz that was responded to with a great save by a changed hand from Unai Simón. The second came in the 36th minute in a shot by Sobrino that was also cleared into a corner by Unai Simón,
The second half was something more for Athletic, who had twenty minutes in which they were superior but were unable to make a decision. Already in the 48th minute, Asier Villalibre was able to score with a header, one of his very rare chances. In the 51st minute Valverde introduced a triple change: Vesga, Lekue and Unai Gómez left the field and Sancet, Yuri and Jauregizar entered. Nico Williams immediately came on for Aru Ades and then Guruzeta for Villalibre, so Athletic became much more recognizable.
Athletic looked for the goal against a Cádiz that was increasingly temporizing and accepted the point. The ball went around Ledesma’s area but Althletic already lacked ideas and resources. The tie was the fairest.
