Llorente delights in Bilbao blitz

Athletic Bilbao striker Fernando Llorente was delighted after his side sent Manchester United out of the Europa League on Thursday.

The 27-year-old forward paved the way for Athletic’s 2-1 victory at San Mames on Thursday, scoring the club’s first goal before coming off on 40 minutes after suffering a recurrence of his hip problem.

“Eliminating United is incredible,” Llorente told reporters after his side sealed a 5-3 aggregate win over the Premier League champions. “The truth is that this is wonderful, we had a great match.”

“We had a hard time in the first half and we had to play closer to our goal at times, but against these teams that happens sometimes.”

However, Llorente urged his side to stay focused as Athletic look to enter the European qualification zone in Sunday’s La Liga match against Valencia.

“Now we have to recover because on Sunday there is another complicated match against Valencia,” he added.

“We will see if we can continue to play like this.”