La Liga leaders Real Madrid increased the gap between themselves and Barcelona to a whopping seven points tonight after a narrow 1-0 victory against Athletic Bilbao. The home side weren’t caused too many problems by Madrid throughout the ninety, and it took a soft penalty earned by Marcelo in the second half to decide the fixture. Sergio Ramos stepped up and smashed in the spot-kick as usual, to earn Madrid what could turn out to be an essential victory in the race for the La Liga title this season.
Here Are The Real Madrid Player Ratings Vs Athletic Bilbao:
Real Madrid Player Ratings Vs Athletic Bilbao
Thibaut Courtois – 7
The Belgian stopper made multiple clean saves all through the fixture to ensure that the home side didn’t register a goal tonight. Spilt a couple of Bilbao strikes was but showed good reflexes to react.
Dani Carvajal – 6.5
The full-back tried to get forward and make things happen in the final third on every possible opportunity, but his crosses into the box were dealt with pretty easily by an assured Bilbao back-line.
Sergio Ramos – 7.5
The skipper stepped up to the plate when his team needed him the most yet again today, as he slotted home a penalty to score the only goal of the match. Defended efficiently as well.
Eder Militao – 6.5
The centre-half was brought into the side today and had a couple of somewhat questionable moments on the ball. Looked confident otherwise and played some good passes out too.
Marcelo – 7.5
The veteran speedster played a couple of decent crosses into the box throughout the fixture and did a decent job to cut across his marker and win a penalty in the second half of the tie.
Luka Modric – 7
The Croatian veteran held his position superbly all through the ninety and played multiple forward passes to release the attackers. Didn’t provide his usual quality in the final third of the pitch though.
Casemiro – 7
The holding-midfielder provided the Madrid back-line with excellent cover as they looked vulnerable every time the home side counter-attacked. Positioned himself superbly in the final third.
Federico Valverde – 6.5
The youngster didn’t have his most influential of outings against Bilbao tonight, but maintained his position efficiently and ensured that the ball kept ticking in the middle of the park.
Marco Asensio – 6.5
The Spanish trickster showed multiple moments of brilliance all through the fixture and played some neat balls in from wide too. Moved the ball with finesse and looked dangerous at times.
Karim Benzema – 5
The French forward had a couple of decent shots on the goal in the first half but wasn’t able to create the desired impact. The ball just wouldn’t fall for him in the Bilbao box tonight though.
Rodrygo – 6
The youngster tried to make an impression in the final third of the pitch all through the first half but wasted one glorious chance to open the scoring. Needs to show more conviction.
Substitutes
Lucas Vazquez – NA
Didn’t have time to make an impact.
Vinicius Jr. – NA
Didn’t have time to make an impact.
Toni Kroos – NA
Didn’t have time to make an impact.
Luka Jovic – NA
Didn’t have time to make an impact.
