Real Madrid vs Athletic Bilbao Prediction, Betting Tips & Preview

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Joel Amorim Feb 10, 2016 @ 02:41 am

Next Saturday, 13th of February 2016, a “new” Zinedine Zidane’s Real Madrid will measure forces with the mighty Athletic Bilbao at Santiago Bernabéu for Round 24 of the Spanish Liga BBVA.

More than two months after their last win away from Santiago Bernabéu, Real Madrid returned to winning ways on their visit to Andalusia last Sunday night after beating Granada by 2-1. Los Blancos were in control for large periods of the match, but it wasn’t by any means easy to bring the three points from Los Cármenes. The usual suspect Karim Benzema opened the score for Real Madrid in the first-half after sending home a good assist by Carvajal. Zidane’s men piled on the pressure and they had several other chances to score, but they weren’t able to overcome an utterly inspired Andrés Fernández, who put up an almost vintage performance. Working against the grain, it was Granada that managed to claw the equalizer when, after recovering the ball in the midfield line, Rochina assisted El-Arabi for the goal. Real Madrid, however, kept their heads up, and the Croatian playmaker Luka Modric netted the winning goal with a superb scorcher from outside the box with five minutes to the end of the match.

For next weekend’s predictably complicated fixture against Athletic Bilbao, Zidane will still not be able to rely on the services of Gareth Bale, who will likely miss the rest of the season due to a calf injury. The Brazilian duo Danilo and Marcelo are still recovering from their respective injuries and they are in doubt out there.

As for Athletic Bilbao, the Basque team managed to extend their undefeated league streak to three matches, after clawing a goalless draw against Villarreal last time out. In a frantic match at San Mamés last Saturday, neither Athletic nor Villarreal managed to score a goal, but they had plenty of good chances to do so. The Athletic canterano Iñaki Williams was the one who tried the hardest to score, but he failed to overcome Areola, who put up some good saves throughout the match. Iñaki, who was Athletic’s best man during the match, ended up being sent off in the dying moments of the match after a rough tackle on Manu Trigueros.

For next weekend’s visit to Madrid, Ernesto Valverde will not be able to rely on Iñaki Williams and on Mikel San José, who are both currently suspended. Raul Garcia and Etxeita, who are still recovering from their respective injuries, are in doubt out there.

Real Madrid

Stats: W-4 L-0 D-1

Recent Form - WWDWW

Athletic

Stats: W-2 L-1 D-2

Recent Form - DWLWL

Possible Line-ups

Real Madrid (4-3-3) – Navas - Carvajal - Ramos - Varane - Nacho - Kroos - Modric - Isco - Ronaldo - James - Benzema

Athletic (4-2-3-1) - Iraizoz - Lekue - Boveda - Laporte - Balenziaga - Beñat - Iturraspe - Eraso - Susaeta - Muniain - Aduriz

Injury List / Suspended Players

Real Madrid - Bale (inj) - Danilo (in doubt) - Marcelo (in doubt)

Athletic - Iñaki Williams (sus) - Mikel San José (sus) - Raul Garcia (in doubt) - Etxeita (in doubt)

Head-to-head matches:

League Positions