Real Madrid make fools of themselves against Athletic Club and move away from Barça in LaLiga

San Mamés did justice. Real Madrid visited Bilbao to face Athletic Club at home on Matchday 16 of LaLiga EA Sports 2024/25 and returned to their old ways. A team without football and without soul was more than deservedly defeated by the Basques (1-2) and once again moved away from FC Barcelona in the league table.

Ernesto Valverde's team was vastly superior from the first minute, although both teams were barely able to create any danger in the first 45 minutes. The VAR was close to 'giving' a new penalty to the Merengues for an alleged foul on Rodrygo, but the main referee, Sánchez Martínez, avoided another nonsense and the two teams went into the break with the score tied at 0-0.

Athletic Club sealed the victory in the second half

Upon returning from the locker room, the superiority of the Basques was rewarded by Berenguer, who took advantage of a rebound from Thibaut Courtois and opened the scoring. The Whites could have equalised from the penalty spot after Aguirrezabala brought down Rüdiger, but Kylian Mbappé continued his 'fall into hell' and missed the penalty again.

However, Jude Belligham did extend his scoring streak and levelled the score with his fourth consecutive goal, but an error in the exit of Federico Valverde left Guruzeta one-on-one with the Madrid goalkeeper and ended up deciding the game in favour of the home team.

In this way, those led by Carlo Ancelotti are once again moving away from Barça in the league table and losing ground in La Liga. The Whites remain on 33 points, while the Catalans cling to the top with 37 points after their thrashing of Mallorca (1-5). Athletic Club took the three points, but football is the winner.

Match details

• Athletic Club: Aguirrezabala; Gorosabel (De Marcos, m. 46), Vivian, Álvarez, Boiro (Berchiche, m. 46); Jaureguizar, Prados; I. Williams,  N. Williams, Sancet (Gómez, m. 46) y Berenguer (Guruzeta, m. 46).
• Real Madrid: Courtois; L. Vázquez, Rüdiger, Asencio, F. García (Mendy, m. 71); Valverde, Ceballos (Brahim Díaz, m. 58), Bellingham, Tchouaméni (Modric, m. 71); Rodrygo (Modric, m. 67) y Mbappé.
• Referee: Sánchez Martínez.
• Incidents: Match corresponding to Matchday 16 of LaLiga EA Sports 2024-25
• Goals: 1-0, Berenguer (min. 53); 1-1, Bellingham (min. 78); 2-1, Guruzeta (min. 80).