Granada vs Athletic Bilbao preview - Anquela asks for "intensity"

Granada coach Juan Antonio Anquela has called on his team to give their utmost from the outset when they host fellow La Liga strugglers Athletic Bilbao.

The teams are hovering above the relegation zone with eight points and an identical goal difference after nine games and by the time the match starts, they could have slipped into the bottom three.

Granada have won two matches all season, back-to-back victories over Celta Vigo and Mallorca, but their last two league games have ended in defeat as did the first leg of their Copa del Rey clash with Real Zaragoza in midweek.

Anquela recognised the similarities between the clubs' plight saying they had "the same doubts and the same points" and urged his team to show commitment from the off.

At a press conference reported in El Correo, Anquela said: "We have to come out with the intensity and rage necessary from the first minute, because so far this has not happened."

He described Sunday's opponents as a "great team", adding: "In football everything is measured by results. In the past year they have achieved tremendous results, two finals and they came close to perfection in Old Trafford in one of the best matches I've seen in a long time, but not this year, football is so capricious."

Athletic have by no means been able to repeat the form of last season with their away form especially a concern with just one point on their travels this season.

In their previous outing on Wednesday they could only manage a goalless draw at third tier Eibar in the Copa del Rey.