"I'm glad Athletic won, but I would never play there"

The rivalry between Athletic Club and Real Sociedad, the great Basque derby, is one of the most significant in Spanish football. However, it remains just a derby, a rivalry on the pitch and not off it.

At least that's how Ander Barrenetxea sees it, who was delighted with Bilbao's title against Mallorca in the Copa del Rey. "Since we were eliminated, I preferred Athletic to win. Not only because of Europe, because it was better for us, but also because I think it's the team that has earned the most to win the cup and because I have friends there that I don't have in Mallorca".

The 'txuri-urdin' winger assured on 'Radio Marca Donostia' that he would never play for his great rival: "I'm never going to play for Athletic, I couldn't. I'm a Real player and Real have given me everything. I'm from Real and Real have given me everything. When I play against Athletic I'm always going to go out to die and I'm going to want Real to be above them, but they were in the final, we weren't and I'd rather have my friends win than someone else who I'm angry at, in inverted commas, because they had eliminated us".

"It's true that we took a dislike to them in that tie, not because of the gestures, which I found a bit regrettable that you're in a final and they were thinking about us, but because of the type of play, that they don't let you play, they grab you and push you, and then they're the ones who say that we were crying," he argued.