Real Madrid went into San Mames Stadium hoping to forget about last week’s tie against Villarreal in which they allowed FC Barcelona to get closer to first place. But it seems like the gods of soccer do not love Real Madrid at the moment. They dropped two points last week against Villarreal and today they dropped another three points against Athletic Bilbao as they were defeated with a 1-0 score on Saturday night.
The three time Ballon D’Or winner, Cristiano Ronaldo, was absent throughout today’s game even though he was on the pitch. He was not able to find the net or even assist any of his teammates. He barely got a touch on the ball in the second half and even more when Javier Hernandez came on in the last 10 minutes of the game. Real Madrid is also missing the presence of James Rodriguez, Luka Modrić, and Sergio Ramos. The defense keeps getting more and more vulnerable and without James or Modrić in the attack or midfield, Ronaldo does not seem to have that chemistry or support he needs to continue in his great form.
Athletic Bilbao are coming from a four-game undefeated streak, in which they have won 1-0 in three of those match and tied one game against Granada. They also won the second leg of the Copa del Rey against Espanyol to acquire a spot in the Final against Barcelona in May. Although losing Ander Herrera to Manchester United in the summer, Athletic Bilbao continues to have players improve and are finding others that help the team. Aymeric Laporte has caught a lot of attention with other teams, bringing on the fear that this is another player Bilbao might lose. Markel Sasueta, Andoni Iraola, Mikel Rico, Beñat Etxebarria and Ander Iturraspe are among other players that have seen huge improvement in their form these past few games.
The only goal we saw in the match came in the 27th minute, when Aritz Aduriz connected with his head and saw the ball go past Iker Casillas, giving Athletic the 1-0 lead. Mikel Rico gave the beautiful assist and the Portuguese back, Pepe could not beat Aduriz and Iker saw the ball go past him and lay on the floor with shock written all over his face.
Real Madrid saw few of opportunities as well but the one that left many fans in a state of shock was an opportunity by Gareth Bale in the 83rd minute. Bale went up against Rico but from 50 yards kicked the ball, seeing that goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz was out of his goal. As Iraizoz chased after the ball, the ball hit the post and Jese Rodriguez went for the rebound but Iraola was there to save his team from giving up the lead.
With this result, Real Madrid sees them selves in first place, still two points ahead of Barcelona but leave a door wide open for the Catalans, who play Rayo Vallecano tomorrow night. The man of the match goes to none other than Aritz Aduriz, who scored the lone goal of the match. Real Madrid who seem to have their form deteriorating, face Levante on Sunday. Athletic faces Celta Vigo on Saturday and hope to get another three points on the table.
Photo by: Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images