The Basque Country is made up of the three Spanish provinces of Biscay, Guipuzcoa and Arabba. The Basques combine these three regions, which are located in the southwest corner and border the French province of Aquitaine, with the province of Navarre as the birthplace of their nation. This is what the Basques call the "Basque Country".

Simply put, only players from this area with a population of just two million are eligible to become a member of Athletic Bilbao.

Of course, even if one’s place of origin is not the Basque region, as long as the parents are Basque, their children are considered to be of Basque descent.

In the football world, other teams are trying every possible means to buy strong foreign players, but for Athletic Bilbao fans, the Basque bloodline is what they are most proud of.

Of course, Athletic Bilbao did not always use only pure-blooded Basque players. In the early days of its establishment, because there were a large number of British people in the small city of Bilbao, Bilbao also absorbed outstanding British players as foreign aid.

Such practice was despised by the Real Sociedad Club in the same city. Real Sociedad Club was established 11 years later than Athletic Bilbao Club, but was more radical than Athletic Bilbao at the beginning. They claimed that they were the real pure-blooded Basque, while Athletic Bilbao was not orthodox.

Athletic Bilbao was very annoyed by this, so it began to reluctantly clean out foreign players in the club, including players of Spanish nationality but not of Basque descent.

This also caused Athletic Bilbao to fall from the top of La Liga that year to the middle of La Liga.

But Athletic Bilbao does not regret it, and their actions have also received fanatical support from fans in the Pan-Basque region.

Since then, Athletic Bilbao has never bought any players who are not of Basque descent. Relying only on players of Basque descent, Athletic Bilbao has always stood firm in the La Liga, which is full of strong opponents, and has never been relegated.

In contrast, Real Sociedad Club collapsed early on. They gave up their Basque bloodline and bought outstanding Spanish and foreign players so that they could still gain a foothold in La Liga.

These two teams, once known as the Basque duo, have gradually drifted apart.

Athletic Bilbao has never concealed its respect for its bloodline. Their club motto hanging outside the stadium is: "Why do you need foreigners when you have the service of local talents and the support of hometown elders?"

Although this sentence may sound a bit harsh to outsiders, for the Basque people, it is their pride.

Although they only use players from the region, Athletic Bilbao is one of the most successful football clubs in Spanish history. They were founded earlier than Barcelona, ​​and have won 8 La Liga titles, 24 Copa del Rey titles and 1 Spanish Super Cup title. This achievement also makes them the fourth team in La Liga history, and they have never been relegated, which puts them on par with Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Athletic Bilbao's policy of pure blood supremacy has been very successful in history. They have supplied the Spanish national team with more international players than any other club except Real Madrid. This conveyor belt of talent has even led the club to adopt an unprecedented transfer policy: adding huge buyout clauses to the semi-professional contracts offered to young players to prevent the big European clubs from poaching the best Basque youth.

Of course, the current Athletic Bilbao is not as good as before.

Firstly, after the Bosman Act was passed in 1995, there are no nationality restrictions on the transfer of EU players. Player transfers among EU clubs have become more frequent, and talented players from all over Europe have been fully discovered and utilized.

Secondly, in recent years, the Basque region has become the region with the lowest fertility rate in Europe. Although the Basque people love football very much, without the demographic dividend, everything is just castles in the air.

Therefore, Athletic Bilbao is in a very difficult situation now.

But they still stick to their football philosophy.

In today's game, Athletic Bilbao's home stadium, San Mamés, was packed with almost all die-hard Basque fans.

Southampton faced a huge away disadvantage right from the start.

After the opening, Athletic Bilbao launched round after round of fierce attacks.

With almost every attack, the Basque fans in the stands cheered wildly following the rhythm of the ball.

Athletic Bilbao 1:0 Southampton.

I have to say that the cooperation between these Basque players of the same ancestry in Athletic Bilbao is really smooth.

The same culture allows them to communicate with just a glance, which is much smoother than other teams.

Moreover, these Basque players are brothers by blood, so it is easier for them to unite on the field, and the team is very easy to lead.

Southampton had no better response for the time being and could only defend with all their strength.

The confrontation between the two sides in the midfield area was very fierce, and both sides made mistakes.

During the injury time of the first half, Athletic Bilbao relied on the team's smooth offensive cooperation and scored another goal, changing the score to Athletic Bilbao 2:0 Southampton.

Southampton is also facing the greatest score pressure this season.

After a 15-minute break at halftime, Coach Adkins made some subtle adjustments to the players, with Gu Ran being pushed to the attacking midfielder position.

Shortly after the start of the second half, Gu Ran received a long pass from Van Dijk, dribbled past two Athletic Bilbao players, and then went straight into the penalty area of ​​Athletic Bilbao.

The Athletic Bilbao defender tackled Gu Ran from behind.

Southampton won a free kick in a good position.

Gu Ran took the free kick and with a crescent-shaped scimitar and a deadly elevator ball, the score was changed to Athletic Bilbao 2:1 Southampton.

Although the ground-based mobile warfare failed to break through Athletic Bilbao's defense, Gu Ran's set pieces were still unstoppable.

In the 71st minute of the second half, the constant sprinting and physical confrontations caused the players of Athletic Bilbao to consume a lot of physical energy.

And this time is exactly when Southampton is in a relatively strong period.

Under the leadership of Gu Ran, Southampton began a desperate counterattack.

In the 77th minute, Gu Ran passed the ball on the left side, Chamberlain went up the side and made a cross to Salah in front of the goal. Salah made a quick shot, but the Athletic Bilbao goalkeeper stretched out his hand to block the ball. Gu Ran took the opportunity to quickly move forward and made a high-altitude header, sending the ball into the net.

The score on the big screen immediately changed to Athletic Bilbao 2:2 Southampton.

In the second half, Southampton scored two goals!

…

(End of this chapter)