Athletic Women keep the mystery in goal for the Eibar derby

Athletic Women head into tomorrow’s derby at Eibar with the goalkeeping spot still up in the air. As Mundo Deportivo reports, Víctor Martín made a surprise call last week by giving Astralaga the start in goal for Athletic, leaving Nanclares out.

Mystery for Eibar

The key question now is who will guard the net against Eibar. The coach, however, chose not to give any hints ahead of the match. As quoted by Mundo Deportivo after training at Lezama, he said: “They don’t know either; I’ll tell you yourselves,” smiling.

What Martín did make clear is the wider picture: the fight for minutes “is high”, because—his words—the team has two exceptional goalkeepers. He also highlighted the respectful relationship between them and argued that the rivalry helps both improve.

Managing playing time

The technical staff’s job, according to Martín, is to manage that rotation. He even pointed to what happened in the game versus Espanyol, describing how the goalkeeping situation stays healthy: when things go against one of them, the other shares the moment with the bench. “They’re happy for each other,” he said, calling it a “blessed problem” that isn’t easy to handle.

So for the derby, Athletic Women face a practical decision for Víctor Martín: two ready options, no confirmed starter yet, and the need to get it right to keep the momentum.