Athletic Bilbao vs Tenerife
Athletic Bilbao
Tenerife
vs
Sunday 21st February 2010
Venue: San Mames
Kick-off: 16:00
Score: 4 - 1
Toquero gunning for victory
Athletic Bilbao striker Gaizka Toquero insists his side cannot accept anything less than three points on Sunday when they host travel-sick Tenerife at San Mames.
Tenerife have the worst away record in La Liga having picked up just two points from a possible 30 this season, whilst they have also netted only six goals in their 10 games on the road.
Historically the Canary Islanders have also fared badly at Athletic, winning just one of their 12 league visits to the Basque giants and losing nine.
That all points to a home win, and Toquero admits that is exactly what his side will be demanding of themselves, regardless of the selection problems coach Joaquin Caparros is facing.
Pablo Orbaiz and Javi Martinez are both suspended after being sent off in last weekend's 2-1 defeat to Villarreal, while Inaki Munoz, Iban Zubiaurre, Aitor Ocio, Ion Velez and Inigo Diaz de Cerio were all struggling for fitness earlier this week.
"At home the only thing we can accept are three points. We have some very noticeable absentees, but we have the squad to do well against Tenerife," said Toquero.
Athletic will be hoping for a happier time than their last home match, when ugly scenes marred their Europa League encounter with Anderlecht on Thursday.
Fans of the rival teams clashed on the pitch following the 1-1 draw, while there were also incidents before the match.
"It was a disaster," said Toquero in El Correo. "Those types of altercations soured a bit what should have been a game to enjoy.
"I hope what happened here is not repeated (in the second leg). This has to be about the football and not a battleground as happened on Thursday."
Athletic are seventh in the Primera Division standings following some mixed recent results. They have won their last three matches at home but have taken just one point from their five away games in 2010.
Tenerife make the trip to the north of Spain stuck in the bottom three of the standings.
However, their confidence was boosted on Monday night when they ended a two-month search for a win by downing high-flying Real Mallorca 1-0 at home.
Tenerife captain Marc Beltran said: "We are going to San Mames in a good moment.
"San Mames is one of the most difficult grounds, but we will try to win the game and to do that we have to do things well."
Coach Jose Luis Oltra added: "To win our first game away from home, at such a difficult stadium, would be great for us. It's going to be a tough game at a ground that lives and breathes football.
"We will have to compete well and make the right decisions. I hope the result we got against Mallorca gives us a boos."
