Ath Bilbao vs Girona prediction: SPAIN: LaLiga betting tips on match 2024-02-18 20:00.
Athletic Club and Girona meet on Monday in what could be an ultimately decisive battle in the race to qualify for the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League. Athletic have recently slipped below Barcelona and AtlĂ©tico Madrid and out of the top four after failing to win three of their last four La Liga games (W1, D2, L1) – the most recent of which was an embarrassing 0-0 draw away to ten-man, bottom-of-the-table AlmerĂa.
But at their home of San Mamés, there has barely been a blip throughout the league campaign. Athletic’s ambitions of a first Champions League sojourn since 2014/15 have been maintained by the longest active home winning streak (W6) in La Liga, which includes beating fellow European hopefuls Atlético (2-0), Real Sociedad (2-1) and Las Palmas (1-0).
They shouldn’t therefore be afraid of Girona, despite the ten-point gap between the two sides, particularly as a bit of gloss has recently been taken off the visitors’ remarkable season. Their dreams of leapfrogging Real Madrid back into top spot last weekend were shattered when they were humbled by Los Blancos for a second time this term (L 4-0 away) – the fourth match in seven (W3, D3, L1) that they have dropped points.
Head coach MĂchel stated after the loss that he believes around 73-75 points is the requirement for Girona to secure their first-ever Champions League appearance. And given that the White and Reds remain undefeated in league football this campaign against everyone but Real Madrid (W17, D5; 2.55 points per game), there’s no reason they can’t achieve that points tally, especially if they can continue replicating results at similarly ranked teams such as Real Betis and Real Sociedad (both 1-1 draws).
Players to watch: Athletic captain Iker Muniain remains a good-luck charm, as the club’s previous La Liga home outing was the seventh successive time that he has been on the winning side when scoring in all competitions. Girona’s Viktor Tsygankov has found the net in four league matches in 2023/24, with the return fixture against Athletic (D1) the only one of those that they didn’t win.
Hot stat: Neither team has lost a league game this season after opening the scoring (Athletic W11, D3; Girona W11, D2).