Ath Bilbao vs Real Madrid prediction: SPAIN: LaLiga betting tips on match 2023-08-11 19:30.
Athletic Bilbao finished no higher than eighth and no lower than 11th across their last five La Liga (LL) campaigns, and now seek the improvement needed to return to Europe for the first time since 2017/18. They were just one place short last term, thanks in part to a final-day 1-1 draw against Real Madrid, and they almost snuck in before Osasuna’s ban for historic match-fixing was overturned.
Losing three of their final four home league games 1-0 (W1) hurt them, so the Lions could use a decent start at San Mamés, although they failed to score in each of their last three LL openers (D2, L1) and haven’t beaten Madrid in a league fixture here since March 2015 (D2, L6). That remains their last LL H2H win anywhere, so taking on one of their biggest historic rivals is a tough way to start.
Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti rated their pre-season as six out of ten, so he’s also looking for improvement as the 35-time LL champions try to knock Barcelona off their perch. Englishman Jude Bellingham was the summer’s marquee signing as they prepare for their first season without striker Karim Benzema since 2008/09, which was coincidentally the last campaign in which they lost their opening league fixture (W10, D4)!
Rodrygo, VinĂcius JĂşnior and summer re-signing Joselu are expected to share striking responsibilities and prevent that from happening again, although with the transfer window still open and Kylian MbappĂ© available on the market, Los Blancos could be active on that front yet. A miserable end to last season saw them lose three of their final four league away games (W1), so they’d much rather repeat last season’s start which saw them launch the campaign with six straight wins on the road.
Players to watch: Oihan Sancet scored for Athletic against Madrid in June and eight of his ten LL strikes last term came before the 50th minute. Rodrygo scored twice in Los Blancos’ final league away game last season and might be a more likely later scorer given six of his nine LL goals last term came after half-time.
Hot stat: Real Madrid scored a league-high 22 goals from set-pieces (including penalties) last term.