Real Madrid vs Athletic Bilbao

Estadio Santiago Bernabeu sets the stage for a heavyweight La Liga clash between Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao.

Carlo Ancelotti marked his 200th win in charge of Real Madrid with a stylish 4-2 victory at Osasuna before the international break, celebrating his 900th top-flight game as a manager as a comfortable La Liga pacesetter. Los Blancos boasted an eight-point lead on second-placed Barcelona ahead of this matchday and will be keen to preserve that advantage with another home success. It’s been over a year since Ancelotti’s side last suffered a league defeat on home turf (W16, D3), increasing the likelihood of keeping Athletic Bilbao winless at the Bernabeu in La Liga, as they’ve done successfully since 2005 (W15, D3). Adding to Los Merengues’ confidence, they’ve won their last three home league games ‘to nil,’ with two of them yielding an identical 4-0 scoreline.

As for Athletic Bilbao, a routine 2-0 home triumph against Deportivo Alaves last time out extended their unbeaten league run to three matches (W2, D1), all of which saw them keep a clean sheet. Manager Ernesto Valverde will hope the same defensive resilience could help his side avenge a 2-0 defeat in August’s reverse fixture, which remains Bilbao’s only home upset this La Liga campaign (W11, D3). However, Los Leones haven’t fared so well on their travels, recording partial success in their 14 away league games (W5, D5, L4). They at least snapped a four-game winless La Liga streak on the road (D2, L2) with a 2-0 victory at Las Palmas on their most recent trip. Valverde will hope to mastermind another decent away result after avoiding defeat on his last four managerial visits to the Bernabeu (W3, D1).