F.Llorente pens new deal at Bilbao
Athletic Bilbao received a huge boost on the eve of their trip to Primera Division Getafe after star striker Fernando Llorente signed a new contract.
Llorente, whose existing deal ran until 2011, has put pen to a paper on a new contract that ties him to the Basque outfit until June 30, 2013 and includes a buy-out of 36million euros.
Securing the services of the 24-year-old Spain international is the second bit of good news Athletic fans have received in the last few days, with the team having also got back to winning ways on Thursday following a poor run of form.
Athletic started the season on fire with four successive victories in the league and Europe, but they then hit the skids and lost four of their next five matches whilst drawing the other.
That run saw the Basque giants plummet down the league standings and also put into jeopardy their hopes of reaching the next round of the Europa League, a scenario that seemed even more probable when they trailed 1-0 at half-time in their home match with CD Nacional on Thursday.
However, second-half goals from Joseba Etxeberria and Llorente, whose winner came in the 67th minute, helped Athletic turn the match around and earn them a much-needed victory.
Now Athletic will try to build on that triumph when they make the trip to a Getafe side who have also had a mixed start to the season, winning three matches and losing four.
The club from the outskirts of Madrid have looked very good on occasions this season, but very bad on others.
There seems to be no middle ground at the moment and Michel's side was poor again in last weekend's 3-1 defeat at Real Mallorca, albeit away from home against an in-form side.
Getafe president Angel Torres wants to see an improvement, saying this week: "We are soft and we defend badly."
Coach Michel's response to that was: "I'm not going to comment on what the president said, but we know that in some aspects of our play we aren't how we should be, we have to work hard and try to get it right on Sunday."
Pedro Leon, Adrian Gonzalez and Dani Parejo have all been struggling with niggling injuries this week, but are all available for tomorrow's match.
Meanwhile, Caparros is without the unfit Fran Yeste, Etxeberria and Oscar de Marcos, who all featured in the match against Nacional, as well as existing injury victims Inaki Munoz, Aitor Ocio, Iban Zubiaurre and Inigo Diaz De Cerio.
Teenage striker Iker Muniain is also still missing due to his commitments with the Spain Under-17 side.
Caparros does welcome back Ion Velez though, with the centre-forward coming into the squad for the first time in the league this season after overcoming the injury that has kept him sidelined since August.
Left-back Koikili Lertxundi and youngster Eneko Boveda are also brought back in as further changes to the squad for the Europa League match.
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