Real Madrid traveled north to the Basque Country to face Athletic Bilbao at San Mames this evening, another crucial game in their tightly-fought battle with Atletico Madrid for the league title, and managed to do their job and win 1-0.
They went into the game second in La Liga, two points behind Atletico and two clear of Barcelona. They needed to beat Athletic, always a difficult task at their place, and hope Atletico dropped points at Osasuna. That would have put Madrid in the driving seat heading into the final game of the season, where they face Villarreal. Atletico travelled to play Real Valladolid and won 2-1.
Zinedine Zidane opted for a 4-3-3 shape, with Thibaut Courtois starting in goal behind a back four of Alvaro Odriozola, Eder Militao, Nacho and Miguel Gutierrez. The midfield three was Casemiro, Fede Valverde and Luka Modric, with Karim Benzema leading the line, flanked by Vinicius and Rodrygo.
Atletico thought they’d taken the lead around the hour mark through centre-back Stefan Savic back in Madrid, only for it to be ruled out for offside. Madrid did indeed take the lead through their centre-back Nacho about ten minutes later, however, setting up a nail-biting final 20 minutes that they rode through. They’re still in the fight heading into the final game of the season.
