Athletic Bilbao vs. Real Madrid: Winners and Losers from La Liga Game
Athletic Bilbao made it a week to remember as they backed up their reaching the Copa del Rey final in midweek by beating Real Madrid 1-0 in La Liga on Saturday.
A fast start for the home team was rewarded with Aritz Aduriz's powerful headed finish, which beat Iker Casillas at his near post. Real struck the woodwork through Gareth Bale's 45-yard shot late on but were kept at bay, unable to find an equaliser due to the efforts of a tremendously hardworking Athletic side.
Here are all our winners and losers from the game.
Winner: Aritz Aduriz
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Yes, Aritz Aduriz scored Athletic's only goal of the game—again—but he'll receive plaudits due to his powerful, nonstop, all-round play.
He was superb in occupying more than one Real defender in the second half. He'd hold the ball up when his team was under pressure and drop to take possession, allowing others to gain ground up the field and then attacking from deep.
"He’s one of the most important strikers in the league," Athletic coach Ernesto Valverde said, per Inside Spanish Football. "We have to dominate the areas in which he thrives. We look for him, and if he is well, then we are well."
Aduriz almost scored a second header, which clipped the post, and Pepe simply couldn't live with his movement off the ball when play was spread wide. It was a tremendous 90 minutes from Athletic's key man.
Loser: BBC
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Real Madrid's front three, by contrast, found next to no space to operate, had no clear chances of their own and did not link up with each other at all.
They each had half-sights of goal: Cristiano Ronaldo was denied by a palm-away from Gorka Iraizoz, Karim Benzema went through on goal but was denied by the stopper coming out quickly, and Gareth Bale had his audacious effort rock the woodwork late on. By and large, however, they were impotent. Athletic closed out the spaces, marked each player in turn and stopped any regular shooting chances from range.
As much as Benzema, Bale and Cristiano deserve criticism in this match, Iraizoz and centre-backs Carlos Gurpegi and Xabier Etxeita deserve tremendous acclaim.
Winner: Mikel Rico
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While Gurpegi and Co. held things together at the back, central midfielder Mikel Rico put in perhaps the most accomplished and complete midfielder performance La Liga has seen outside the big three teams in a long time.
Rico was everywhere in the first half, pressing high, winning the ball back and initiating counter-attacks high up the field for his team. He also drove into the right channel frequently—clearly a tactical ploy from Athletic—and delivered the inch-perfect cross for Aduriz's headed goal.
After the break, he was more structured, disciplined and reliable in his normal holding position in front of the defence, closing out spaces and making sure passes were simple and effective in moving his team up the field.
Loser: Carlo Ancelotti
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Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti went with his 4-3-3 again, but once more the team started too slowly and didn't create any chances, and the substitutes had minimal impact.
Jese Rodriguez didn't have space to use his great pace, Lucas Silva offered neither control nor vision in the centre after replacing Toni Kroos, and Javier Hernandez barely had time to touch the ball. A better start to the second half indicated Ancelotti's half-time talk was of the unimpressed variety, but the Italian was unable to get his side to change shape or style to break down Athletic's back line.
The defeat means his team will be off top spot if Barcelona win on Sunday against Rayo Vallecano, placing even more importance on El Clasico, to come in just two weeks.
Winner: Inaki Williams
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Our final winner for Athletic was a toss-up between Andoni Iraola—superb on the right and later in a holding midfield role—and the exciting, fearless performance of youngster Inaki Williams, who just gets the nod.
Williams was the continual out-ball for Athletic in the first half, breaking beyond Dani Carvajal, giving Pepe problems to come over and cover and also showing great intelligence to run infield off his left-flank station to double up in key areas with Aduriz.
He worked hard defensively, made two great tackles inside his own box and received a massive ovation from the Athletic support when he was subbed in the second half. Another tremendously exciting indication of the potential he has, which is hugely different than anything else in the Athletic squad.
