Athletic Bilbao 2 - Alavés 1

Athletic:Lafuente; Felipe, Alkorta, Ferreira (Expósito 63'), Larrazábal; Imaz (Sivori 80'), Urrutia, Carlos García, Javi González; Julen Guerrero; Urzaiz (David Karanka 88'). 4-4-1-1.
Alavés: Herrera; Contra, Karmona, Eggen, Torres Mestre; Astudillo, Desio, Pablo (Asier Salcedo 77'), Azkoitia (Kodro 70'), Ibon Begoña; Julio Salinas (Javi Moreno 65'). 4-5-1.

Team changes: Bilbao: Larrazábal, Urrutia, Guerrero for Expósito, Lasa, Sivori / Alavés: Contra, Eggen, Azkoitia for Gañan, Téllez, Javi Moreno.

Goals:
1-0. 19. Guerrero. Header from close up after Javi González crossed from left.
1-1. 45. Salinas. First time volley after Begoña's header came over defence.
2-1. 62. Carlos García. After Javi González turned back Guerrero's long cross.

It was not to be. Lowly Alavés playing in the Champions League was too much to hope for, and the headlines we had drafted, 'Beckham signs for Vitoria', and 'substitute Kodro scores past Kahn in 1-0 victory' have been condemned to the rubbish bin as they lost the last game of the season to Basque neighbours Athletic Bilbao. They will however still be playing in Europe next season for the first time in their history, and their sixth place in the league will shine out as a beacon for other modest teams to shoot at (whoops, there goes another mixed metaphor). The pre-match build up was rife with speculation, whether Bilbao, with nothing to play for, would let their good friends and neighbours win the match, or whether anyone had left a 'maletín' (a suitcase full of money) for the Bilbao players. Valencia had apparently done so according to the sporting press, offering 80 million Pesetas to the home side if they beat their opponents, thereby giving Valencia the chance to move above them in the league. Apparently Alavés had not reciprocated with Valencia or Real Madrid's opponents, but then 80 million Pesetas is probably more than the club's spending budget in the year. They should however have a chance to rake in some cash if they progress in the UEFA cup, allowing their players to spend frivolously, for example by replacing the inner tubes on their bicycles etc. Despite finishing higher than them in the league this year, Alavés have never beaten Bilbao in thirteen meetings, and once again they were dominated by their more experienced hosts. Their manager Mané went for a more defensive line up for this game, leaving out Javi Moreno to bring in an extra midfielder Azkoitia, with Contra retruning from suspension at right back and Eggen replacing Téllez, who dropped out at the last minute. The oldest man in the Spanish first division, 37 year old Julio Salinas, took over the captain's armband from Karmona for this, his last match in professional football, which by a fortunate coincidence was being played in the ground where he started his career some 21 years ago. Bilbao were also saying goodbye to a couple of old faces, with manager Luis Fernández taking charge for the last time before Txetxu Rojo takes over, and Patxi Ferreira playing his last match as his contract comes to an end. He will apparently be moving to Rayo Vallecano next season, although some reports say that Atlético Madrid would like him back to help them get out of the second division. Any suspicion that Bilbao were going to let their rivals win was soon dissipated, as Javi González forced a fingertip save out of Herrera in the third minute, and Julen Guerrero gave his side the lead with his 100th goal for the club in the twentieth minute. Alavés came close a couple of times before Roy of the Rovers himself, (in the guise of Julio Salinas), proved that fact can be stranger than fiction. If you had read it in a comic you would have said it was rubbish, but just before the break Salinas waited for Torres Mestre's free kick to come over his head before volleying home his 152nd goal in the Spanish first division. Both sets of supporters rose to their feet as referee Puentes Leira, not wanting to spoil the fun, decided for once to overlook the fact that Julito was a couple of yards offside when the kick was taken. Twenty minutes later the old warhorse came off to a rousing standing ovation as did Ferreira more or less at the same time. That was a couple of minutes after Bilbao had retaken the lead, with Julen Guerrero and Javi González once again involved in a move which set up Carlos García in front of goal. Javi Moreno, Kodro and then Salcedo came on as the visitors went for broke, but efforts from Azkoitia, Ibon Begoña and Salcedo were just off target, the latter hitting a post with a shot which went through Lafuente. The 2,000 Alavés fans went home disappointed, but when all is said and done they would have settled for sixth place at the start of the season without a second thought. Bilbao end a disappointing season in eleventh place, but fans still called for the fiery Fernández to come down to the pitch after the match. He ends a period of four years in which they finished second in the league once and played in the Champions League for the first time in their history, and his successor will have his work cut out to better his record. Txetxu Rojo has already made a head start in beating the controversial Luis in the disciplinary department. His sending off this week at Zaragoza means that he will have to watch their first match from the stands, and if the referee's report of physical aggression by Rojo is upheld, the suspension could be extended to several weeks. The best Luis could do was a six game ban. At this rate, Rojo should win the league next season.