Athletic de Bilbao beat Valencia 5-1 at San Mames in La Liga on Sunday evening trimming the gap between them and a UEFA Cup spot to just 5 points. Bilbao coach Joaquín Caparrós was of course more than just delighted with the win that sends los Che to just 2 points above safety and the former Sevilla FC coach has immediately set his eyes on Bilbao's next encounter in the league.

Which is against the mighty Real Madrid at the Bernabeu and Caparros says that Bilbao do need to be positive about this match and try and get points from his match to sustain their very slim European ambitions. He says:

"We have to be ambitious and make sure that the opposition think that we are a strong team. We have to maintain this consistency and to aim high, the history of the club obliges us to do that.

"We are going to try and win as many points as we can. Is the UEFA Cup too far away. No. We have to aspire to the highest thing we can. Therefore the game against Real Madrid is very important to learn from."

Maybe Caparros is looking far too ahead. Bilbao should actually be grateful that they are not immersed in the relegation dogfight like they were last season.