Athletic Bilbao vs. Real Madrid Prediction: Final score, goal-scorers, MOTM

Real Madrid will finish 2021 on Wednesday night with a match against Athletic Bilbao, who have allowed the second-fewest goals in LaLiga this season with 14 behind only second-place Sevilla. Although Los Blancos are league leaders, they will not take the 10th-placed Lions for granted, especially not at San Mames. It is one of the most difficult atmospheres in all of Europe.

A few weeks ago, Real barely scraped by Athletic 1-0. Will they be more convincing this time? Or will a team struck by COVID-19 absences – and without Casemiro, too – drop points for a second straight game? Real have done well at San Mames recently, but nobody should be guaranteeing three points here

Still, I believe Real Madrid will get back to their winning ways quickly after failing to find a breakthrough against Cadiz. Matches like this are so important for the spirit of a team that is a title contender, noting the venue of the match and the adversity of missing so many vital players like Luka Modric, David Alaba, and three right wingers.

It won’t be easy, but Real should just squeeze out a 2-1 victory, with the usual difference-makers, Karim Benzema and Vinicius Junior, finding the back of the net. They are so important to this team, and after struggling vs. Cadiz, you had better believe they are going to get on the scoresheet or impact the match in some meaningful way.

As for Bilbao, their goal-scorer is also out to prove a point. I believe Inaki Williams, who is so often the hero for the Lions, will get his goal against Real Madrid. He has been stymied or come close often in recent meetings with the Merengue club, including the last match in which he should have scored multiple times but was missing his shooting boots. Williams won’t have a repeat performance against Madrid. Players like Williams live for big LaLiga matches against Barcelona and Madrid in front of the bright lights.

The Man of the Match last time between these teams was Thibaut Courtois, and Madridistas hope he won’t be called into action so much this time. But Vinicius Junior was another standout performer from this earlier meeting between the “Viejo Clasico” rivals. He had the Athletic Bilbao defense on strings with his skill.

Vinicius has been LaLiga‘s most electric player this season. Expect to see more of the same and less of what we saw against Cadiz. The end product Vini has shown this season has been the difference, and the hero against the likes of Elche and Sevilla will be the hero once more on Matchday 21 at San Mames. This is the kind of stage Vini loves, as we saw in the other “Clasico” of 2021-2022.

So to summarize…

Prediction: Athletic Bilbao 1, Real Madrid 2

Goal-scorers: Inaki Williams, Karim Benzema, Vinicius Junior

MOTM: Vinicius Jr.