La Liga: Athletic Face Uphill Battle at Resurgent Real

Real Madrid vs Athletic Bilbao

Real Madrid appear to have regained their form after a recent rough patch. The reigning La Liga champions have won three games on the bounce, including back-to-back big league wins which have significantly improved their La Liga 2020 odds to win the league.

Los Blancos will look to make it a hat-trick of consecutive league victories when they welcome Athletic Bilbao to Madrid.

The Basque side aren’t in the greatest of form as they’ve won just one of their last five and none of their last three. They also have a poor record against Real and will face an uphill battle to improve upon it, with the reigning champions quickly regaining their form.

Talking Points

Real Madrid returning to form

Zinedine Zidane has apparently steadied the ship in Madrid. After three consecutive matches without a win in the league, his Real side have pulled off two huge La Liga 2020 results in a row.

First, they eked out a 0-1 win away to Sevilla. And they followed that up with a huge 0-2 victory over league leaders Atletico in the Madrid derby.

And in between those two big league wins, Real also handled Borussia Monchengladbach 2-0 to progress to the Champions League round of 16.

A major factor in Real’s return to form has been their excellent defence. They’ve kept a clean sheet in each of their three wins.

The return of captain and centre-back Sergio Ramos over the last couple of games has clearly made a massive difference. His mere presence provides a huge boost to the rest of the side, especially central defensive partner Raphael Varane.

It’s also helped that Karim Benzema is getting back to top form after missing some time due to injury. The French forward remains the focal point of Real’s attack with four goals and three assists in the league this season.

With the likes of Luka Jovic and Mariano Diaz currently out injured, Zidane has no other option but to start the 32-year-old Benzema for the third time in the space of just over a week.

Although, Real did get a key player back in Fede Valverde, who came on as a substitute against Atleti after missing the last few games due to injury. The Uruguayan midfielder is a strong candidate to start against Athletic to hand veteran Luka Modric a break.

Athletic Bilbao can’t shake away woes

Gaizka Garitano hopes to defy the odds when Athletic Bilbao battle against Real Madrid in La Liga — Athletic Bilbao manager Gaizka Garitano instructs his players during one of their La Liga games last 2019/20 season

Athletic Bilbao’s run of games without a win is now up to three games as they could only draw 2-2 away to Valencia over the weekend.

Athletic did well to recover from an early deficit to take a 2-1 lead, but they conceded a late Valencia equaliser and had to settle for a share of the spoils.

Their performance at Valencia is actually an improvement from their other away matches this season. Athletic have been quite poor on their travels. They have just one win, with two draws and four defeats in seven. Since beating Eibar, they’ve gone winless in their last five away matches (three losses, two draws).

Asier Villalibre scored Athletic’s equaliser against Valencia, and his improving form has been a bright spot for the Basques. The 23-year-old centre-forward has started each of the side’s last four games, and he has repaid manager Gaizka Garitano’s faith in him by scoring two goals.

Villalibre’s possible emergence as a reliable goalscorer to fill the boots left by the retired Aritz Aduriz could be huge for Bilbao, who have received sporadic goals from midfielders Inaki Williams, Iker Muniain, and veteran Raul Garcia.

History

Real Madrid have absolutely dominated Athletic Bilbao throughout the years. They’ve won as impressive 22 of the last 29 league meetings, with just two defeats and five draws. Athletic Bilbao’s last league win over Real came back in 2015.

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Although, Athletic have made things a bit more competitive in recent years. Four of their last six meetings have been draws. Real also needed a penalty from Sergio Ramos to edge out Athletic 1-0 in their most recent meeting during the restart.

Moreover, only two of Real’s last six wins over Athletic have been by more than one goal. Although, one of those was a 3-0 hammering at the Bernabeu with Karim Benzema firing in a hat-trick.

Betting Tip

	Real Madrid vs Athletic Bilbao	Under 2.50 @ 2.17
	December 16 05:00 (GMT+8)

Given their strong record historically against Athletic, it’s unsurprising that SBOTOP odds have Real as significant 1.48 favourites at home, while the Basques are 6.00 underdogs. Meanwhile, a draw is priced at 4.40.

However, there appears to be more value in the over under market, specifically the under. There just don’t seem to be too many goals in this game. With Ramos back, Real are getting back to their best defensively, while the attack doesn’t figure to score many goals.

And on the other side, Athletic will be all too eager to battle and make it tough for Madrid’s attack, while they will be lucky got get a goal themselves.

Five of the last six meetings between Real and Bilbao have had fewer than three goals, and I expect this will be another low-scoring affair.