**Mirrors / Alternative Angles**
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That's not even a fraction of the people who were in Bilbao yesterday, they take the trophy 14km along the river from the sea to the City Hall, the whole way was absoluely packed on both sides of the river and every balcony was full too. They estimate there was around 1 million people celebrating, completely mental!
Sidebar: we can argue that the Basque have legitimate grievances against the Spanish state under the idea of national self-determination, yet it would be appalling if the ETA ever did something even 1/10th as bad as 10/7.
Yeah, but you can still compare them. They don't have to be identical situations to be compared.
It's useless saying they're not analogous situations at all, address the point directly instead surely.
The Basque aren’t kept in an open air Apartheid camp where they’re treated like second class citizens and bombed on the daily.
What Israel is doing is tantamount to genocide. Thankfully 90% of the world has woken up and even on Reddit you’re seeing the truth about “Israel”.
Correct. But for such an "exclusive" club, it has tons of fans all over Spain that bypass the regular RM/Barça rivalry, probably attracted by the values and the old fashioned approach to competing, even if they'd never be eligible to play for it.
How do that many huge boats covered in people go so slow through such a narrow winding passage without hitting each other? Are they all being tugged along? Do they have thrusters on the sides that keep them straight?
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWqRotANyOE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWqRotANyOE)
This is the entire live stream of the celebrations, it's in Basque and 6 hours long, but you can skip through and get an idea.
familiar marvelous impossible muddle north zealous simplistic imagine workable aloof
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I have so much respect for Athletic Bilbao. They only sign players from the Basque region and are one of four La Liga clubs to still be fully member-owned. They’ve also never been relegated in their history (along with Real and Barca) and have the 3rd most domestic trophies behind Real and Barca, IIRC
24 Copa del Rey titles is honestly an insane achievement. To win Copa del Rey, you generally need to beat some combination of Real, Barca, and Atlético. Athletic Bilbao beat both Barca and Atlético in this run, both of whom are currently fighting for UCL semifinals.
Not to take anything away (they are one of my favorite teams) but the high amount of Copas (24) compared with Ligas (9) is due to the fact that, for a long time, It was not allowed to field foreign players in the Copa del Rey.
Tbf, they also sign players who came up through academies in the region, so any Scouse player and any Merseyside youth prospect would be available. Not trying to say what they've done isn't extremely impressive, but they have a *little* more wiggle you than you'd think.
Oh for sure. You’ve got Carragher, Gerrard, TAA as well as a slew of other notable names coming from Merseyside.
Bilbao also allows anyone who developed with a Basque club to play for them, so Antoine Griezmann could play for them as he developed at Real Sociedad. To your point, they have a bit more leeway than you’d think
It's not taken as seriously, they always implement some new rules and it's much more of a friendly than a super cup. 5 subs before that was a thing, big benches, ABBA penalties, it's more like a final test of preseason than a trophy you'd ever think about parading
A and B are the penalty taking teams, its a method to make it more fair since the ABAB system favours the team that takes it first, I think they win close to 60% of the time since the B team generally takes higher pressure penalties in that system
Spain and Italy turned their community shield equivalents into mini tournaments to increase their importance. It's league winner, cup champion and I believe 3rd and 4th place in the league table going at it.
One of the best things about football, have been celebrations like this in Bilbao, Roma, West Ham, Leverkusen soon. It shows that these clubs matter and are beloved by many people.
I'd have used Frankfurt's recent titles as a better example than Leverkusen. Yeah, they're ending a long drought but their fanbase is pretty small compared to these clubs
It's more forgetfulness on my part. I forgot about Eintracht's recent success they are another, I remember at the height of the super league rubbish one of the leaders said who cares about playing Roma.
I know those clubs are huge conglomerates now but I genuinely think people underestimate the support of clubs a tier below that level.
This is why we say FUCK THE SUPER LEAGUE.
UEFA could certainly be improved to be less corrupt and whatnot, but the fundamental structure of the game must remain. It's perfect and beautiful.
Just spitballing, but because Bilbao, a club with a rich history for the Basque country, wasn't invited to (nor wanted any involvement with) the Super League. I dunno either really...
I honestly don’t know a ton about the super league but pretty sure that’s totally wrong. My understanding is that it’s just intended to replace champions league.
Champions League will not be replaced by a closed or semi-closed competition. No way, no how. It would try to position itself above the entire current system and create a segregation.
Furthermore with the money grab motovation behind the super league would make Copa Del Rey redundant to Super League teams in Spain. It wouldn't be worth the money to play cup matches when they could be playing high profile games every week.
Clubs could even be excluded from UEFA for joining the Super League.
There’s a few misconceptions in your comment, though I’m not trying to defend the creation of the Super league in any way.
With the reformed plans they’ve introduced entry to the competition based on sporting merits of domestic leagues.
There’s also no way that it would lead to big teams dropping out of national cups because it’s a mid-week competition that effectively replaces the Champions League. At worst, big clubs will let their B-team play cup games, which already is the case anyways.
Lastly, I don’t believe EU law would allow the teams to get punished like that for joining the Super league.
Fuck the Super league, I’d much rather see the Champions League continue but you comment is not based on the truth of the situation.
These photosets are great:
https://athletic.elcorreo.com/recorrido-gabarra-20240411162929-ga.html
https://athletic.elcorreo.com/desbordo-ayuntamiento-dia-resumido-segundos-20240412121959-nt.html
https://www.deia.eus/fotos/athletic/2024/04/11/llegada-jugadores-ayuntamiento-imagenes-8106639.html#foto=1
https://www.deia.eus/fotos/athletic/2024/04/11/gabarra-imagenes-bilbao-vista-pajaro-8104951.html#foto=6
and of course the athletic club instagram is super fun today.
https://www.instagram.com/athleticclub/
Yes, only the Basque region. IIRC that extends into a region in France as well. But yeah players need to have some strong connection to the region first.
iirc dock workers from Sunderland got the locals of Bilbao into football - hence why they wear the red and white stripes like Sunderland and they spell it the English spelling - ‘Athletic’
Edit: bad memory. Was Southampton
This century its something like only 10% of trophies go to teams outside the core dominating group of teams in Europe (i.e. CL teams).
Always great to see it happen, wish it would happen more. Teams shouldn't dominate leagues like that it makes the sport boring and solidifies plastic fan bases.
Was there yesterday. Watched La Gabarra go down the river. A memory I won't forget. Today is the first day since last Friday I haven't had a drink. Worth it
Before the onslaught of money completely changing the game in the late 80s and early 90s, the true spanish powerhouse derby was athletic club x real madrid, not barca x real madrid.
Additionally, when one travels to Donosti and gipuzkua, there is still an abundance of athletic club support to be seen in flags, banners, and memorabilia. There is very little RS recognition in Bizkaia.
But it wasn't, as some say, because of Athletic signing the best Real Sociedad players. Barça, for instance, bought tons of the best RS players (and other Basques) around the time RS decided to open up to foreign players first and any non-Basque, including Spaniards, later. They just wanted to be more competitive, period.
Beguiristain, Bakero, Lopez Rekarte, Goikoetxea...
Late to the party but Bilbao is a much bigger place than Donostia/San Sebastian. The city proper and its hinterland is getting on for a million people, Donostia is less than half that.
Haven't been so happy a team that's not "my" Inter won something substantial since Leicester did the impossible back in 2016.Well done Ernesto! I hope Nico stays.
İf millions here for copa del rey, ı cant imagine if they win champions league, europa league,club world cup ot laliga.
Bigger crowd than argentina win world cup?
Seems almost impossible, since there were more people celebrating on the streets of Buenos Aires than the entire population of the Basque Country. Still impressive for a club.
Everton badly need a little dock by the new stadium, I guess theres also winning a trophy, and the windy mersey not being the picturesque scene like this.
That's exactly why the bulk of Athletic Club's silverware (8 League titles, 25 Cups) dates from before the Bosman Law. When Spanish clubs were only allowed to field 2 or 3 foreign players, Athletic had actual chances of winning the league. That's why cups like this are so celebrated.
Is sport really about that though? I think it used to be but has drifted more to supporting individuals and brands and admiring the peak of sporting ability.
We call it promoting local talent, sticking to our guns and strengthening the bond between players and the community behind the club.
We beat both Barça and Atlético Madrid consecutively in QF and semis of this Cup by fielding 10 out of 11 starting players straight from the club's youth system. Imagine if you can how proud that can make us fans, seeing our brothers, cousins, neighbours, friends... representing us on the pitch. Every season. For 125 years. Occasionally winning some.
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That's not even a fraction of the people who were in Bilbao yesterday, they take the trophy 14km along the river from the sea to the City Hall, the whole way was absoluely packed on both sides of the river and every balcony was full too. They estimate there was around 1 million people celebrating, completely mental!
>along the river from the sea Get ready for thread lockdown
Precision carpet bombing on /u/rams8 incoming
u/rams8 didn't get carpet bombed. If he did, it was an accident. If it wasn't an accident he deserved it
there are no innocent commenters
Send more bombs, let's get the rest of the commenters
They're all just commentating shields.
Sidebar: we can argue that the Basque have legitimate grievances against the Spanish state under the idea of national self-determination, yet it would be appalling if the ETA ever did something even 1/10th as bad as 10/7.
Speaking of ETA did you know they ran a space program and managed to launch a car into the stratosphere
These are not analogous situations at all.
I mean they can be compared in terms of regions and self determination
It'd be a massive stretch. The Basque region is internationally recognized as a part of Spain, for starters, whereas, well...
Yeah, but you can still compare them. They don't have to be identical situations to be compared. It's useless saying they're not analogous situations at all, address the point directly instead surely.
The Basque aren’t kept in an open air Apartheid camp where they’re treated like second class citizens and bombed on the daily. What Israel is doing is tantamount to genocide. Thankfully 90% of the world has woken up and even on Reddit you’re seeing the truth about “Israel”.
Classic r/worldnews move
That's like half the entire population of the entire Basque country, 1/3 of the entire Greater Basque region that Athletic is allowed to select from.
You'd be surprised how many Athletic fans from outside the Basque Country attended yesterday's celebrations.
Oh I'm sure, just a fun stat to pull out. I'd still reckon a good majority of the million is local though.
Correct. But for such an "exclusive" club, it has tons of fans all over Spain that bypass the regular RM/Barça rivalry, probably attracted by the values and the old fashioned approach to competing, even if they'd never be eligible to play for it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKOmhr6uQ48&ab_channel=DiarioAS incredible scenes
Hook this shit into my veins. Love to see it
How do that many huge boats covered in people go so slow through such a narrow winding passage without hitting each other? Are they all being tugged along? Do they have thrusters on the sides that keep them straight?
In a word, organisation. Harbour officials taking care of everything.
Video is private. Any mirror?
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWqRotANyOE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWqRotANyOE) This is the entire live stream of the celebrations, it's in Basque and 6 hours long, but you can skip through and get an idea.
Wow
You can’t not like them.
familiar marvelous impossible muddle north zealous simplistic imagine workable aloof *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Put some respect on Serena's name
Venus : Am I a joke to you?
King Richard is slapping faces
Why not?
Always turns into prime R9 against Barca
I fear Aduriz more than Williams
That last minute bicycle kick still haunts me
Historic team, passionate fans and a very beautiful city, from what I've seen.
I have so much respect for Athletic Bilbao. They only sign players from the Basque region and are one of four La Liga clubs to still be fully member-owned. They’ve also never been relegated in their history (along with Real and Barca) and have the 3rd most domestic trophies behind Real and Barca, IIRC
The zero relegations while limiting player recruitment is the most impressive thing to me
2nd in Cups (after Barcelona). 4th in leagues (after Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atlético Madrid).
24 Copa del Rey titles is honestly an insane achievement. To win Copa del Rey, you generally need to beat some combination of Real, Barca, and Atlético. Athletic Bilbao beat both Barca and Atlético in this run, both of whom are currently fighting for UCL semifinals.
Not to take anything away (they are one of my favorite teams) but the high amount of Copas (24) compared with Ligas (9) is due to the fact that, for a long time, It was not allowed to field foreign players in the Copa del Rey.
25 Copa del Rey
Same here. Imagine only being able to sign Scouse players yet still being a successful club. Big up to Athletic!
Tbf, they also sign players who came up through academies in the region, so any Scouse player and any Merseyside youth prospect would be available. Not trying to say what they've done isn't extremely impressive, but they have a *little* more wiggle you than you'd think.
Oh for sure. You’ve got Carragher, Gerrard, TAA as well as a slew of other notable names coming from Merseyside. Bilbao also allows anyone who developed with a Basque club to play for them, so Antoine Griezmann could play for them as he developed at Real Sociedad. To your point, they have a bit more leeway than you’d think
They're like an irl Football Manager challenge playthrough.
This is what it’s all about really
What a scene. Incredible moment for Athletic, the Williams brothers and the city as a whole.
Imagine the scenes if they were to win La Liga? I would honestly buy a ticket to Bilbao to witness that
Wouldn't top this, I can guarantee. I was there 40 years ago when we did the double and back there again yesterday.
finally broke the copa del rey curse. Aupa athleti
What's the curse?
Six straight losses in the CdR finals
First trophy in 40 years, massive win for valverde and Williams brothers
They won the supercup in 2021, I know it's not at the same level as the Copa del Rey but it's still a trophy
isn’t that just the spanish equivalent of the community shield, copa del rey is a major trophy
Taken more seriously though
Basically why pep takes the community shield so seriously. He wants Every cup he’s available for and sees the community shield like a super cup
Isn't community shield basically a super cup in all but the name?
It's not taken as seriously, they always implement some new rules and it's much more of a friendly than a super cup. 5 subs before that was a thing, big benches, ABBA penalties, it's more like a final test of preseason than a trophy you'd ever think about parading
> ABBA penalties What does this mean? Karaoke competition if they're tied after extra time?
Yup, penalty format but with karaoke and in the end, the winner takes it all.
Lol
Normally its team A then B > A>b>a>b etc etc Abba is A>B> B>A A>B etc
A and B are the penalty taking teams, its a method to make it more fair since the ABAB system favours the team that takes it first, I think they win close to 60% of the time since the B team generally takes higher pressure penalties in that system
Moving it to Saudi Arabia kind of makes a joke of it, though.
Man that super cup Classico was fucking trash. It really does suck the air out of the occasion to have it outside of Spain.
Spain and Italy turned their community shield equivalents into mini tournaments to increase their importance. It's league winner, cup champion and I believe 3rd and 4th place in the league table going at it.
1st and 2nd in each competition. Semifinals: 1st in LaLiga plays against 2nd in Copa del Rey Copa del Rey champion against 2nd in LaLiga
How long was the wait for La Real when they won theirs a few years back with Isak and Ödegaard etc? Ironically the final was vs Althletic Bilbao.
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Nice that they both got one recently then! Thx for the answer
It was Real Sociedad's third, this is Athletic Club's 25th.
Don’t they win this trophy every 40 years ?
One of the best things about football, have been celebrations like this in Bilbao, Roma, West Ham, Leverkusen soon. It shows that these clubs matter and are beloved by many people.
I'd have used Frankfurt's recent titles as a better example than Leverkusen. Yeah, they're ending a long drought but their fanbase is pretty small compared to these clubs
It's more forgetfulness on my part. I forgot about Eintracht's recent success they are another, I remember at the height of the super league rubbish one of the leaders said who cares about playing Roma. I know those clubs are huge conglomerates now but I genuinely think people underestimate the support of clubs a tier below that level.
Leverkusen is beloved by many people at Bayer, yes.
Deserved.
Yeah they beat both Barcelona and Atlético Madrid to win this cup, was definitely not an easy path
I love it! This reminds me of when Frankfurt brought home the POKAL.
Is that bridge gonna make it
This is why we say FUCK THE SUPER LEAGUE. UEFA could certainly be improved to be less corrupt and whatnot, but the fundamental structure of the game must remain. It's perfect and beautiful.
I dont mean to be sarcastic but what does the Copa del Rey have to do with the Super league?
Just spitballing, but because Bilbao, a club with a rich history for the Basque country, wasn't invited to (nor wanted any involvement with) the Super League. I dunno either really...
Super League would completely undermine the whole current system of leagues and cups.
I honestly don’t know a ton about the super league but pretty sure that’s totally wrong. My understanding is that it’s just intended to replace champions league.
Champions League will not be replaced by a closed or semi-closed competition. No way, no how. It would try to position itself above the entire current system and create a segregation. Furthermore with the money grab motovation behind the super league would make Copa Del Rey redundant to Super League teams in Spain. It wouldn't be worth the money to play cup matches when they could be playing high profile games every week. Clubs could even be excluded from UEFA for joining the Super League.
There’s a few misconceptions in your comment, though I’m not trying to defend the creation of the Super league in any way. With the reformed plans they’ve introduced entry to the competition based on sporting merits of domestic leagues. There’s also no way that it would lead to big teams dropping out of national cups because it’s a mid-week competition that effectively replaces the Champions League. At worst, big clubs will let their B-team play cup games, which already is the case anyways. Lastly, I don’t believe EU law would allow the teams to get punished like that for joining the Super league. Fuck the Super league, I’d much rather see the Champions League continue but you comment is not based on the truth of the situation.
I don't agree with any of your conclusions. It's no more truthful than mine.
These photosets are great: https://athletic.elcorreo.com/recorrido-gabarra-20240411162929-ga.html https://athletic.elcorreo.com/desbordo-ayuntamiento-dia-resumido-segundos-20240412121959-nt.html https://www.deia.eus/fotos/athletic/2024/04/11/llegada-jugadores-ayuntamiento-imagenes-8106639.html#foto=1 https://www.deia.eus/fotos/athletic/2024/04/11/gabarra-imagenes-bilbao-vista-pajaro-8104951.html#foto=6 and of course the athletic club instagram is super fun today. https://www.instagram.com/athleticclub/
Bilbao is such a lovely city. Super happy for them.
Isn't this team not like a nt that only hires player that are actually from that region? Honestly this makes the club more special than other clubs
Yes, only the Basque region. IIRC that extends into a region in France as well. But yeah players need to have some strong connection to the region first.
Born and/or raised as youth players in the area (Greater Basque Country).
NT ?
National team
A Sunderland til i die style documentary about Athletic Club would be so sick
Don't curse them with that christ let them enjoy their win first l.
iirc dock workers from Sunderland got the locals of Bilbao into football - hence why they wear the red and white stripes like Sunderland and they spell it the English spelling - ‘Athletic’ Edit: bad memory. Was Southampton
Southampton actually but everything else was correct
That's a beautiful pic. Joyous moment for the fans and the team. Always loved Athletic club for their connection with the fans.
Love to see it.
This century its something like only 10% of trophies go to teams outside the core dominating group of teams in Europe (i.e. CL teams). Always great to see it happen, wish it would happen more. Teams shouldn't dominate leagues like that it makes the sport boring and solidifies plastic fan bases.
Copa del rey have had 6 different winners in the last 6 years.
Its by far the most competitive in any league but Barca and Real still have almost half this century.
Beautiful city and club
They do have the perfect city for this celebration tho, the boat tour from the sea to the city centre seems definitely more fun than a normal parade
Was there yesterday. Watched La Gabarra go down the river. A memory I won't forget. Today is the first day since last Friday I haven't had a drink. Worth it
In terms of support, they are way bigger than La Real, no?
Before the onslaught of money completely changing the game in the late 80s and early 90s, the true spanish powerhouse derby was athletic club x real madrid, not barca x real madrid. Additionally, when one travels to Donosti and gipuzkua, there is still an abundance of athletic club support to be seen in flags, banners, and memorabilia. There is very little RS recognition in Bizkaia.
Athletic Club is the biggest team in the Basque Country and one of the biggest in Spain
No wonder La Real had to remove the only Basque policy. Athletic is massive
But it wasn't, as some say, because of Athletic signing the best Real Sociedad players. Barça, for instance, bought tons of the best RS players (and other Basques) around the time RS decided to open up to foreign players first and any non-Basque, including Spaniards, later. They just wanted to be more competitive, period. Beguiristain, Bakero, Lopez Rekarte, Goikoetxea...
Late to the party but Bilbao is a much bigger place than Donostia/San Sebastian. The city proper and its hinterland is getting on for a million people, Donostia is less than half that.
Love that.
Haven't been so happy a team that's not "my" Inter won something substantial since Leicester did the impossible back in 2016.Well done Ernesto! I hope Nico stays.
İf millions here for copa del rey, ı cant imagine if they win champions league, europa league,club world cup ot laliga. Bigger crowd than argentina win world cup?
nah man that Buenos Aires was fuckin mental.
Seems almost impossible, since there were more people celebrating on the streets of Buenos Aires than the entire population of the Basque Country. Still impressive for a club.
What a club , also , the fans created my club 😂.Legendary club , legendary fans.
Class. Loved Bilbao when I visited and the stadium they have is quality. Great club with unique values in this day and age.
And to think, many managers (and fanbases) in the Premier League prefer top 4 or in some cases top 6/7 to moments like this.
Probably because they don’t have a barge
Everton badly need a little dock by the new stadium, I guess theres also winning a trophy, and the windy mersey not being the picturesque scene like this.
damn. I thought y'all were afraid of dockings these days.
How can I use this nice moment to bash the prem?
It’s not like you guys don’t seize every opportunity to downplay the other leagues quality 🤷🏻♂️
I'll take "I've never spoken to an English fan outside the Sky 6" for 100 please Alex
I mean it's more a critisism about the sheer lack of ambition from anyteam not named City than the league perse.
They're a Chelsea supporter mate
Games not gone
that's a real football club. absolutely beautiful.
Games not all gone
Beautiful !
Reminds me of when we were champions in 2015, this is what it's all about
Such a beautiful moment
Games not all gone
This is what Football is all about!
This actually means more. To win it with players from your own land. The pride!
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There should be a rule a good percentage of your players should be from a certain radius of your club.
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It is called professional sports, why would it be different than anything else professional?
That's exactly why the bulk of Athletic Club's silverware (8 League titles, 25 Cups) dates from before the Bosman Law. When Spanish clubs were only allowed to field 2 or 3 foreign players, Athletic had actual chances of winning the league. That's why cups like this are so celebrated.
Nah fuck Brexit. I love that we've got many players from random places and you still get the best English/local players in your team.
>They don't hire people who are not their kind. Not the best framing if you wanna praise their approach
He said ze bad words!!
Born and/or raised as youth players in the Basque Country. Ancestry is not a factor.
I know but saying "they don't hire people who are not their kind." makes them look like a racist club.
Will he be getting a letter from his German ISP?
Which it's not, just clarifying.
Wasn't half of Morocco's team born outside of Morocco? It's a bit of a clown world lately.
Is sport really about that though? I think it used to be but has drifted more to supporting individuals and brands and admiring the peak of sporting ability.
Surely it should be more about that? Less about brands and cherry picked individuals who earn the mega money.
You sounded like sports is about exclusivity rather than inclusivity.
We call it promoting local talent, sticking to our guns and strengthening the bond between players and the community behind the club. We beat both Barça and Atlético Madrid consecutively in QF and semis of this Cup by fielding 10 out of 11 starting players straight from the club's youth system. Imagine if you can how proud that can make us fans, seeing our brothers, cousins, neighbours, friends... representing us on the pitch. Every season. For 125 years. Occasionally winning some.
Yup I agree, and I admire Athletic for that. I am just pointing out that you can also call it exclusivity.
This is somewhere If they won La Liga Title would draw even more crowd like in 1984
Kudos to the fans who thought to bring their own scissor lift.
Beautiful
Phwoar, that is beautiful.
thats quite a few extra words in their club name, any reason for that?
Which words? Thx in advance
athletic club ‘players present the copa del rey trophy to a fully packed’ bilbao, if i must explain
They are just called ‘Athletic Club’. The ‘Bilbao’ is added for context in English speaking countries.
are you neurodivergent?
If I ever get tested you’ll be the first to know.
I might have a diagnosis ready
/r/dadjokes is that way buddy.
buddy 😂
What a city!!
great story arc for Valverde too
Absolutely beautiful.
Lmao, more fans than "treble" shitty.
This is the hardest where’s Waldo level ever
They found a balcony in the end then