‘We are defending the colours…’ Ernesto Valverde declares ahead of facing a ‘great’ Newcastle United | OneFootball

The Ernesto Valverde Newcastle United press conference has taken place.

The Athletic Bilbao boss speaking to journalists.

This was ahead of tonight’s game at St James’ Park.

Athletic Bilbao have won one and lost two of their opening three matches in the Champions League.

Winning at home to Qarabag in their latest Champions League match but that following losing at home to Arsenal, then defeated away at Borussia Dortmund.

Ernesto Valverde Newcastle United press conference – 4 November 2025:

“We have a responsibility to go into a game and try and win it.

“It is a game that reminds us of other occasions here when we played years ago in the UEFA Cup.

“We are defending the colours of our club.

“Newcastle are a great side and have three points more in the league phase than us.

“They will try and take the initiative at home but it is another opportunity for us to pick up points.”

Ernesto Valverde has also said in advance of tonight’s match:

“We’ve had a tough set of fixtures and we have some difficult opponents to come.

“We already imagined this when the season started – the Champions League has no easy teams and every opponent is a real challenge.

“We’ve already seen the results so far and the teams who are above us in the table are the usual suspects. Such relentless teams are really good as we saw with Arsenal and Dortmund.

“We’ll see how things go for us. We’re anxious to show what we can do.

“It’s an honour for us – the second time this century that we’ve played in the Champions League, which is proof that it’s not easy to achieve. We’ve suffered at certain points because of how strong the opponents are. The atmosphere at San Mamés has been amazing for these Champions League games, and we want to enjoy it as much as we can.