Football Season Guide

Enjoyed a strong campaign last season finishing 6th in the table and thus guaranteeing European football for the forthcoming campaign. They needed a strong end to the season to make it so but managed it, although were disappointed to finish just behind fierce Basque rivals Athletic Club. Their biggest obstacle this season is likely to be in central midfield. Mikel Merino and Martin Zubimendi have been superb for them but both are likely to leave before the season starts, which would be a huge problem. Turrientes is more than capable of playing at CM too but he's likely to miss the first game or two after playing at the Olympics. This could all but guarantee a slow start to the season for the San Sebastian outfit. Another to potentially miss the start of the season is defender Pacheco, who also played at the Olympics. They've got good options in all areas of defence though, especially since adding Javi Lopez and Sergio Gomez, so it shouldn't be as glaring a problem if Pacheco has to miss a couple of games. Rotation midfielder Zakharyan has undergone surgery so will almost certainly miss the start of the season too, although that's not an issue. As a whole, they're likely to have to endure a slow start to their campaign. If they lose Merino and Zubimendi then it'll be late in the day, and then they need to source replacements. Factoring in an integration period, it could be a while before they're at their best. Then they need to juggle two major competitions, which they should have enough depth for but some of their new recruits (e.g. Sucic) lack consistency and may not be ready for a while.