Real Madrid vs Athletic Club Preview

Real Madrid will wrap up their La Liga season this weekend when they welcome Athletic Bilbao to the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday.

Los Blancos may not have anything to play for as Barcelona has already secured the league title but they can at least fight to finish in second position ahead of Atletico Madrid.

They need to win here or hope city rivals Atlético drop points against Villarreal to secure second place following their 2-1 comeback win over Sevilla last Saturday.

Having won their last four league home games, they will fancy their chances of making it five in a row and sign off the season in style ahead of what is expected to be a busy transfer window.

Meanwhile, unlike their hosts, Athletic Bilbao still have something to fight for.

The visitors can still qualify for Europe this term with a top-seven finish after Real Madrdi had done them the favour of beating Osasuna in the Copa del Rey. However, they are one of several teams chasing seventh place and come into this tie sitting in eighth position.

To qualify for the Conference League, they must better Osasuna’s result and at least match Girona’s, with those two sides coincidentally facing each other this weekend. A win would also prevent Rayo Vallecano and Mallorca from pipping the Lions to the post.

However, three points is a tall order for Ernesto Valverde’s side as the Basque outfit hasn’t won a H2H league game since March 2015 (D4, L11). Also, the last time they triumphed against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu in Spain’s top flight was ten years ago (D2, L15 since), highlighting how hard it will be to end a three-match winless run in La Liga away matches (D1, L2).

Other fixtures taking place this week in the Spanish Primera Liga:

Spanish Primera Liga Table