Athletic Bilbao: 5 Tactical Talking Points from Europa League Semifinal

Sporting Lisbon and Athletic Bilbao have played out an entertaining tie which saw the home side take a 2-1 advantage from the semifinal first leg.

Bilbao will have to take Sporting back to the influential San Mames and score, probably at least once, to progress to the final.

We've come to marvel over Marcelo Bielsa's troops and the way they approach the game, but tonight was not their finest showing.

While comparisons to Barcelona are made in their droves, there are some real differences which set Bilbao apart.

Read on to look at some tactical talking points from the game.

Forget Iker Muniain, Fernando Llorente or Ander Herrera.

Javi Martinez is Athletic Bilbao's key player and they sorely missed him through suspension tonight.

Whether he's operating in central defence or defensive midfield, the highly sought Spaniard keeps the team ticking over to control the game.

The rest are quality players, but they are peripherals in the side. Without Martinez, Athletic Bilbao find it a lot tougher.

This is more of an issue without Javi Martinez, but he himself is not the quickest.

Ander Iturraspe is a lumbering player who struggles to keep up with quicker midfielders when carrying out his tracking duties.

Oscar De Marcos, in a similar fashion, belies his somatotype with some equally lethargic marking.

Athletic Bilbao were sliced open several times this evening by an energetic, direct Sporting Lisbon side. Martinez's ability to anchor the midfield and keep a lid on the amount of penetration the opposition can offer was sorely, sorely missed.

The video shows how Marcelo Biela instructs his players to play when they don't have the ball.

It's not a carbon copy of Barcelona's pressing because the Chilean coach demands a strict man-marking regime.

It goes beyond anything your going to witness in the English Premier League and sees the likes of Iker Muniain, playing on the left wing, picking up a man on the edge of one penalty box and tracking him all the way to the other.

It can leave the team completely disjointed at times but they usually have the ability to play their way out of it.

Switching to a zonal-marking system in certain areas or scenarios would remove the issue of slower central midfielders hindering the pressing game.

Something Athletic Bilbao have that defies the typical tiki-taka playing style is the long-ball option.

Fernando Llorente is great with his feet, but even better with his head. If the centre-half decides to play a direct ball straight to the lone striker, Bilbao's midfield form a triangle around him.

This gives Llorente three options and he can choose who he heads or chests the ball down to. It's an excellent system and allows them to use a hurried form of attack if they're chasing the game.

For all the passing ability Barcelona and the Spanish national team have on the deck, they've been criticised for not having a plan B. That's not something you can accuse Marcelo Bielsa's boys of.

Athletic Bilbao have a fluid defence that changes shape to allow high ball-retention rates.

Marcelo Bielsa deploys two central defenders and two attacking full-backs. The full-backs will take it in turns to roam the touchline and widen the pitch whilst still retaining a balanced formation.

It will usually appear that Bilbao are playing three at the back. One central defender will shift across to cover the marauding full-back, whilst Ander Iturraspe fills in to cover the gaps.

Bilbao were nowhere close to their finest against Sporting Lisbon, but pushing the full-backs up is one of the major reasons why, on a normal basis, they can control and manipulate the game.

The San Mames should host a great game one week from now in which Los Leones will be strong favourites.