Terzic: "Seeing what happened two years ago after winning the Copa was one of the reasons I came here"

Terzic begins his Athletic Bilbao tenure with a Copa del Rey tie against sixth-tier Prat, citing the club's 2023 Copa triumph as inspiration for joining.

Athletic, former Bilbao manager Edin Terzic opened his tenure at the Basque club by reflecting on the inspiration behind his move. The German coach, who won the DFB-Pokal with Borussia Dortmund in his first season, said seeing footage of Athletic's Copa del Rey victory two years ago was one of the reasons he chose to join the club.

Terzic faces his first test in Thursday's Copa del Rey match against Prat, a sixth-tier side. Despite the vast gulf in league status, the manager emphasised the importance of treating the fixture with full respect. "The magic of the Copa is that anything is possible," he said, referencing Arsenal's recent cup upset in England. He confirmed Athletic will field a strong team to advance, having studied extensive video footage and scouting reports on their opponents.

On team news, Terzic revealed that midfielder Sancet has trained fully but will not play on artificial turf mid-week, remaining available for Sunday's league fixture. Galarreta remains sidelined but has begun running and is targeted to return for the following week's match against Osasuna.