Real Madrid reduced defending champions Barcelona’s La Liga lead to a point with a 3-0 win at Bilbao.
Kylian Mbappe’s brace puts Real Madrid out 3-0 win At Athletic Club in Bilbao to tighten the La Liga title race with Barcelona.
The French forward hit either side of Eduardo Camavinga’s header in each half of Wednesday’s match to leave Los Blancos temporarily level with Barcelona on four points. Their victory Against Atletico Madrid.
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Real have dropped three consecutive draws which have allowed their bitter rivals to take pole position in the league, while their recent dry spell saw them suffer a heavy defeat at the hands of Liverpool.
There were no nerves on Xavi Alonso’s side, although there were rumors that the former Real midfielder was coming under pressure in his first season in charge at the Santiago Bernabeu where he replaced Carlos Ancelotti in the summer.
Athletic’s match at San Mames was one of Real’s best performances of the season.
Mbappe opened the scoring early as Trent Alexander-Arnold provided La Liga’s first assist, before Camwinga nodded in a second before the break.
French superstar Mbappe scored his 16th league goal of the season in the second half to seal Madrid’s win.
Among the negatives for Los Blancos were injuries to Alexander-Arnold and Camwinga in the second half, with both players being substituted.
Mbappe almost put Real Madrid ahead in the fourth minute, but Unai Simon made a smart save at his near post and then blocked Vinicius’ effort.
Madrid came out of the blocks strongly and took the lead in the seventh minute through Mbappe’s superb goal.
Alexander-Arnold picked out the forward with a superb long pass and Mbappe turned dangerously towards the box and finished perfectly to beat Simon.
Gorka Guruzeta fired over and forced Thibaut Courtois into a good save on one of Athletic’s rare runs at the other end.
They had their best chance when Nico Williams and Alex Berenguer combined and Courtois produced a superb stop to deny the latter.
This reawakened Madrid and they once again took control, threatening twice through Vinicius who linked up efficiently with Mbappe.
The Brazilian winger hit a low effort off the post from a tight angle, with Simon trying to keep it out.
The keeper made a superb save to keep out Vinicius one-on-one minutes after Eder Militao sent through on goal.
Madrid grabbed their second before the break and at the end of a team move, Mbappe nodded Alexander-Arnold’s cross across goal for Camwinga to head home from point-blank range.
Courtois noted Mikel Jaureguizar’s fierce efforts early in the second half to prevent Athletic from gaining a foothold in the game.
Alexander-Arnold marred Madrid’s night with a muscle injury and was replaced by Raul Asensio.
Mbappe put the game beyond doubt with another long-range effort at the near post. Simon may have done too much to undo some of his earlier good work.
Camavinga was later injured by a possible injury to former Real Sociedad player Alonso in the Basque Country against his former rivals.
The coach also received a warm hug from Vinicius when he replaced the Brazilian, despite the players seemingly fighting him over the past few weeks.