Real Madrid suffered to beat (2-1) Athletic Club at Santiago Bernabéu stadium. We had to wait until the 83th minute to see the crucial goal from Álvaro Morata, who put Los Blancos top of the table in La Liga again. Real Madrid got the three points, whereas Atlético de Madrid lost in Seville, so Zidane’s side recover the first position in the table.
It wasn’t easy. Again, Los Blancos didn’t play well and was a completely different team from the one we saw against Betis only 8 days ago. Even if Zidane repeated the same starting eleven, Los Blancos didn’t play as a team and didn’t pressure enough Athletic Club, who travelled to Madrid with many important players missing like Aritz Aduriz, Muniain, De Marcos or Balenziaga.
The game started well for Real Madrid. The team took the lead in the 7th minute after an assist from Isco to Benzema, who scored easily. It was supposed to be a quite night at Santiago Bernabéu and even Real Madrid had more chances to widen the gap. But Athletic Club drew with a goal from Sabin Merino in the 28th after a big error in the defence.
Real Madrid were playing good with the ball but really bad without it. The Basque team had many chances to take the lead, especially Iñaki Williams, who couldn’t beat Keylor Navas even if he stood a couple of time alone against the goalkeeper. Zidane had to change something in the team and Lucas Vázquez and Morata came in, again, like in the match with Legia Warsaw. Real Madrid supporters were angry with the French manager after he decided to change Isco, the best of Los Blancos tonight.
Luckily for Los Blancos, the goal arrived. Gareth Bale served a great assist from the left and Morata scores in front of Iraizoz. Like the game against Sporting Portugal, Morata was again the protagonist in the day of his birthday. Cristiano Ronaldo had some chances but he played a really poor game and was whistling by the supports. A night to be forgotten by the Portuguese star. Finally, three important points staying at Bernabéu, so Los Blancos are top of the table.
