Ernesto Valverde has challenged his Athletic Bilbao side to try to go "as far as possible" in the Europa League after qualifying with a win over BATE Borisov.

The La Liga side dominated against the Belarusian champions, but were made to wait until the second half for a breakthrough before completing a 2-0 victory.

Valverde has suggested that Athletic were looking to win the game in a bid to earn a seeded place for Friday's draw for the last 32 as well as distract from last weekend's defeat against Cordoba.

He is quoted by UEFA.comas saying: "Our goal today was to win for many reasons, to be seeded, to win in San Mames, to take away the bad taste of another day in the [Spanish] league.

"We are in the [last 32] stage of the Europa League and we want to get as far as possible."

Athletic return to domestic action with a Basque derby away to Real Sociedad on Sunday.

Written by
Chris O'Keefe