Discussing 10 football photos with Athletic Club's trophy hero before they face Man Utd

New York Times

01-05-2025

Alex Berenguer is the man who scored the goal to win Athletic Club's first trophy in 40 years last season.
Before his team take on Manchester United in the Europa League semi-final first leg today, the 29-year-old attacker sat down with Andy Mitten to discuss 10 football photos from Athletic's iconic celebrations on a river barge to Harry Maguire's winner against Lyon.
These are the pictures and what they mean to Berenguer and Athletic.
The moment of liberation. Of ecstasy. I was carrying the hopes of every Athletic fan when I took that penalty. There was pressure – a lot – but luckily, I'm a pretty cool, pretty calm person, and I think I handled the emotions well at that moment. It was complicated because in the end, you're one goal away from getting a first cup for 40 years, but I felt calm.
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During the penalty shootout, my teammates and the Mallorca team were shouting, but I was only focused on my penalty. I don't remember much about the other penalties because I was only focused on what I had to do. Score.
People ask me, 'How did you experience the penalties?' Well, I don't remember much until I scored the goal because everything was happening so fast. I was focused on where I was going to put the penalty and take pressure off the others'
The best day of my life. In terms of football, I think it's an experience that will be difficult to replace with a better one. It was Athletic's first trophy for 40 years, everyone came to the streets to watch the champions pass on the famous barge that only sails when Athletic win a trophy.
We celebrated hard. It was good to see not just the 50,000 who turn up to the stadium but all the fans who turned up on the streets. Almost one million people who were in the streets of Bilbao and it's something that still gives me goosebumps.
This club is unique. A unique team and city, because it has values ​​that represent it all. I hope all fans enjoy visiting the city. Try a good kalimotxo. Kalimotxo is red wine with cola and ice. Fresh. Delicious. That with a steak, the best in the world.
And visit the old town and the centre of the city which is very beautiful. The Guggenheim (museum) you see here in the photo, other areas outside of downtown Bilbao, you have the lot. Beach, mountains, everything.'
The Williams brothers are an icon of the club. They're doing wonderful things for this club and, well, we're enjoying it. As players, they're two daggers on the wing, one on the left, one on the right. They're decisive for us, and as people, they're incredible.
Inaki is more mature now because he's older. He's a leader, more after Munian's absence last year and because (current captain) Oscar de Marcos is leaving soon. I think he's going to be the leader of the future and he deserves it.
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Nico, he's the typical young kid who enjoys the moment of football. Youth can have that joy, that spark, right? He gives a lot to the team and we're a very young team. The young players bring energy and joy to training and games and it gives us a lot. The other thing is that they're at the top level, decisive players who win us games'.
Well, what can I say about Ernesto the coach? He's the one, the rudder of our ship, the one who guides us along the path to where we must go.
He's doing things so well. He leads us, we're happy, both those who play a part and those who don't – that's very important.
Ernesto is direct. He tells you clearly what he wants and what he doesn't. We're in a positive environment with him: quality, hard work, joy. You come to training happy and you leave happy with him because he's got a fun side too. I love coming to training at Lezama with my friends.
If we've won a game, we'll ask Ernesto for two days off and put a little pressure on him, but he doesn't usually give in.
It's an incredible fan base, the 12th player who carries us on their shoulders. Thanks to them, we have a huge advantage at home in San Mames.
The fans sing songs, the one I like the most was for our former captain Iker Muniain. We sang that when we won the Copa del Rey.
Football is experienced here differently than in other parts of Spain. It's a sense of belonging. I don't know how to explain it in a few words, it's something you feel. Even if people haven't been Athletic fans all their lives, they come here, start to feel it, and in the end, they'll be Athletic fans until they die.
There isn't a club like Athletic Club these days. There's Chivas in Mexico that plays exclusively with Mexican players, but Mexico is very big. Here we only play with Basque players from a small piece of the map. That is an incredible achievement and not just because we're managing to reach high levels.
This was during my first years of professional football with Osasuna. Ironically, I'm playing at San Mames in the photo and it brings good memories because it's the beginning of a long career that I've still got, and I hope I have many more years left. Osasuna are the club that saw me born as a player, who gave me the chance to be a professional footballer and I'll always have them in my heart and be grateful.
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My best Osasuna moment was our promotion from the second division. We made it to the playoffs on the last matchday and ended up going up to the first division after passing two knockout rounds. The worst moment was relegation in the following year. It was very difficult for us, we suffered a lot, and I didn't enjoy football much then.
Now, Osasuna are in the first division and the stadium El Sadar is fantastic with the new stands. It still maintains the essence of the old Sadar, but remodelled. The fans there always push hard, and they continue to do so.
This is my time at Torino in Italy, which at first was difficult for me. It took me a bit to adapt to Italian football and life there, but I was young, barely 22 and leaving home for the first time. I grew up in Pamplona and played for the local club, remember.
Italian culture was like that of Spain, but it was also difficult for me. The language was a challenge and the football was totally different from that played in Spain. The first year was rough for me and I relied heavily on my family and friends who came to watch me. Other than that, I was alone and it was difficult, but in my second year I met the woman who is now my wife and the mother of my daughter.
That's when everything changed for me. I started to adapt a little to Italian life, to speak the language well. I started to get along better with my teammates and to adapt to Italian football — how they play there, how they defend, how they attack. I started to take off a little and fans saw the player I'd been at Osasuna.
I like Torino and Turin. You're close to the mountains and the sea, an hour from Milan. I also learned about the disaster of Superga where the team's plane crashed near the city. We went on an anniversary and it was packed in the cathedral. Our captain, Belotti, named all the names of those who died.
It's important to Torino fans. Emotional.
Torino is a great club and there are many more Torino fans in Turin than Juventus fans. But throughout Italy, there are more Juventus fans than any other teams so it's a bit unusual because when there's a derby, almost everyone in Turin is a Torino fan and the streets are packed with Torino fans, a beautiful atmosphere.
I never managed to beat Juventus. We only managed to do so in the three years I was there. We only managed a draw but Juventus is one of the big teams in Italy and has very good players. We struggled to get the results they had.'
Maguire, one of the captains of Manchester United. The last minute (v Lyon), no? He's a good defender. He's had his problems and all that, but it's good that he's a tough defender and person. Very big, powerful, and well, I think Manchester has a great team.
It's going to be hard for us to hurt them, but we have our weapons and we're going all out. Let's go for them, here and there. I haven't been to Manchester. To Liverpool and London, yes. I know Manchester United. Manchester City. The rivalry. But first, this game.
Well, that's the one, the one we want to achieve this year. That's what I'm saying. Let's go. Step by step. We've been progressing through the rounds, I think against very good teams. And we're very good.
I think we can compete against anyone because we're proving it in every game, it doesn't matter who it's against, we just roll up our sleeves and go for it. It's within our grasp now, the final here. We have the San Mames game and then the return in Manchester. But for now, let's focus on Thursday's game. We're going to go all out, all in. Let's go for it and try to get a good result. And from there, well, think about the next game and go for it.
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We've gone through every type of moment this season in the Europa League. We lost one game there (1-4 in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's first game at Besiktas). We lost at Roma, but we have the team for the Europa League. We have great players like Inaki and Nico Williams, Sancet and Guruzeta. We have our weapons and we've shown that in all the qualifiers — and against Rangers, who put us in a bit of a bind with the penalty I missed.
We now have 90 minutes at San Mames and must try to get a good result, and then we'll go to Manchester.