Real Madrid 0-0 Athletic Bilbao
Real Madrid will head into the winter break behind rivals Barcelona by two points atop the La Liga standings. After the Catalans crushed Alaves 4-1 in their weekend fixture, Real could only draw 0-0 against Athletic Bilbao at the Santiago Bernabeu.
The Los Blancos have now ended the year with a hat-trick of draws, including back-to-back goalless draws after their drab El Clasico against Barca in midweek.
Real’s La Liga 2019 odds of winning the league are still decent despite this recent setback. But dropping points at home certainly won’t help their chances of finally reclaiming the league.
Highlights of the game
After a quiet opening 10 minutes, the first real chance of the game fell to the hosts. Vinicius Junior won the ball at the edge of the Bilbao penalty area, and after playing a one-two with Karim Benzema, twisted and turned to get a shot off from close range. But the young Brazilian could not get his effort past Bilbao keeper Unai Simon.
Madrid would come even closer to getting an opening goal on 19 minutes, this time through Toni Kroos. The German midfielder made a purposeful run into the Bilbao area and let out a thunderous strike, which, unfortunately for him, struck the underside of the crossbar and ricocheted away.
Upon further review from the replay, the ball actually struck the head of Unai Simon, which sent it toward the bar.
Madrid held onto possession and fashioned another chance with Luka Modric trying his luck from distance, but it went well wide.
But just a few minutes later, Athletic Bilbao had their first real chance to snatch the lead against the run of play. A loose pass from Fede Valverde was intercepted by Raul Garcia, who played a pass into Inaki Williams. The young Spaniard got his shot away, but it was well saved by Thibaut Courtois on his near post.
Meanwhile, Unai Simon would once again be called upon just after the half-hour mark. Rodrygo delivered a good cross into the box which resulted in a Benzema header that the Bilbao keeper was able to catch rather comfortably.
But Benzema would have an even better chance moments later. The Frenchman dispossessed a Bilbao defender and was clean through on goal. He calmly rounded Unai Simon and looked set to slot the ball into the net, but his effort was cleared off the line by Unai Nunez.
Real would continue their onslaught into the second half. Benzema had a couple more efforts saved by Unai Simon. And just before the hour mark, they struck the post again through substitute Nacho following a corner.
The hosts would go on to complete the hat-trick and hit the frame of the goal for the third time with just four minutes to go. Luka Jovic, who had come on for Vinicius, rose high to win a header which left Unai Simon stranded. But it struck the base of the post and Sergio Ramos was unable to pounce on the rebound.
That would prove to be the last meaningful chance of the game as Real were unable to break down the Athletic Bilbao resistance.
Key statistics
Based on the statistics for this match, Real did enough to pick up the victory. They dominated possession, controlling 69 per cent of the ball.
Moreover, they had over twice as many shots as the visitors (20-8) and had eight shots on target to Bilbao’s two.
Benzema was very active in search of his 13th league goal of the season, which would put him into a tie with Lionel Messi atop the La Liga scoring charts. He finished with seven shots in the match, with four on target.
But despite filling up the La Liga 2019 highlights for this match, it was not to be as Benzema failed to score in a match at the Bernabeu for the first time since the start of November.
What’s next?
La Liga will take a little winter break for the next week or so. But when it kicks off again, Real Madrid will take the short trip to Getafe, who are currently sixth in the table.
Real could only come away with a goalless draw from that fixture last season but have had a strong record against Getafe in recent meetings.
As for Bilbao, their first assignment of the New Year will be a tough one as they go away from home to face third-placed Sevilla.
Don’t forget to check out the SBOBET odds for all of those matches once they are finally up.
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