Real Madrid vs. Athletic Bilbao: Match Preview

On Saturday, Real Madrid will look to take all 3 points against a tough Athletic side at the difficult San Mamés. Manager Zinedine Zidane and his men will look to increase their lead to 5 points over Barcelona atop the La Liga table, while Ernesto Valverde’s team will try and continue their winning ways after a 2-0 victory in the Basque Derby.

Coming off another close win against Real Betis 2-1 last week, Real Madrid will look to put in a better performance against Valverde’s men. This match will be a tough task, however, as Bilbao have not lost at home since August, an unbeaten run that has lasted 19 games now.

Currently, Real Madrid sit in 1st place in the La Liga standings, while Athletic are comfortably mid-table, sitting in 7th. Real Madrid have a lot riding on the game, but anytime these two teams meet, tensions will inevitably rise and a good, hard-fought, match should be the result.

Information regarding the match can be found below. 

Date: Saturday, March 18th, 2017

Time: 11:15am EST

Place: San Mamés, Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain

Team News

Zidane will once again be without central defenders Raphael Varane and Pepe as both are continuing to treat their lingering injuries. Gareth Bale will be back in the squad after serving his two-match ban for lashing out against a Las Palmas player a couple weeks ago. A full squad list is below.

Furthermore, Athletic Bilbao and manager Valverde will have an almost complete squad to select from, bar a couple of players. Defender/midfielder San José is out due to suspension while forward Sabin Merino could be out due to an injury picked up late last month. Los Leones (The Lions) full squad list is found below.

Predicted Lineups

Real Madrid XI:

Navas; Carvajal, Nacho Fernandez, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo; Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Casemiro; Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale

Athletic Bilbao XI:

Kepa; Bóveda, Yeray, Laporte, Balenziaga; Beñat, Itturaspe; Muniain, Raul Garcia, Inaki Williams, Aduriz

Thoughts

This is a must win for the Royal Whites, as grabbing a full 3 points allow them to further separate themselves at the top of the table. That is easier said than done, however, as Bilbao have proved to be a tough fixture tin the past and have been playing great at home. The danger men to watch out for are Cristiano Ronaldo and Aritz Aduriz respectively.

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Match Prediction

I believe Zidane and his men will continue with their sporadic performances. Los Merengues played really well against Eibar two weeks ago, but last week against Betis, they were awful in most phases of the game. The BBC will have to take to ‘the bull by the horns’ here and not rely on a Ramos winner late on. I predict a 3-1 victory for Real Madrid, though it won’t be easy.