Having just advanced to the semifinals of the Europa League after beating Glasgow Rangers 2-0 on aggregate, Athletic Bilbao had the opportunity not only to strengthen their own chase for the top five in La Liga and a place in next season’s Champions League, but also potentially deal the final blow to Real Madrid’s chances of successfully defending their league title.
There was perhaps no better time for the Basque club to face off against Los Merengues because Real had just been destroyed by Arsenal in the Champions League quarterfinals. Not only that - Real had been further unsettled by recent speculation that legendary head coach Carlo Ancelotti would be leaving the Santiago Bernabéu in the off-season after six years over two separate stints. The Italian is widely expected to take over in the Brazil national team’s dugout.
Given all of this, one might think that if ever there were a time that Athletic were to pick up a huge upset win over Real, this would’ve been it. This, however, was not the case as the skill gap between the two teams was made clear. Real beat Athletic 1-0 and kept their league title hopes alive; the one-goal margin of victory was rather deceiving as Real dominated the match and probably should have won by more.
It took Real until stoppage time to score the only goal of the match - and it was a goal which will surely be replayed on highlight reels for a long time to come. Federico Valverde, who started this match at right-back rather than his usual central midfield, hammered a spectacular volley into the far corner of the net in the third minute of the additional time. The Uruguayan has built a reputation as a player with a knack for scoring flashy goals, and he once again lived up to it with arguably his best one yet.
As for Athletic, however, this was a loss they really didn’t need. It has been over a decade since the last time Athletic qualified for the Champions League; although they still remain likely to break that streak this season, it’s still not a guarantee with both Villarreal and Real Betis, the two clubs directly behind them in the league, having played one game less.
Against Real, Athletic looked disjointed, incoherent, and completely unprepared for the match. Athletic hardly ever put a string of meaningful passes together; almost every time it looked as though they might have been getting somewhere, they’d almost immediately lose the ball. This in turn led to Athletic not being able to play the way they intended to; their ideal playstyle usually involves dictating the tempo of the match in the opponent’s half. However, this of course could not have been the case if they weren’t able to even get the ball into the opponent’s half to begin with as was the case against Real where they had only slightly more than a quarter of the possession.
On the plus side, Athletic’s defense did put in a solid shift to limit the damage and keep the scoreline to 1-0. Goalkeeper Unai Simón was perhaps Athletic’s best player in this match, making multiple key saves and ensuring that his team would have a fighting chance. Midfielder Beñat Prados and full-back Andoni Gorosabel, meanwhile, made several important tackles which could potentially have warded off further goals by Real. Athletic have conceded fewer league goals this season than any other team in La Liga with 26; this match was further evidence as to why this is the case.
One other pressing concern, however, has to regard the potential departure of winger Nico Williams, Athletic’s best player. Williams sat out this match injured, making it something of a glimpse into what to expect from them should he leave the San Mamés in the off-season as has been speculated by some. Needless to say, it did not look promising at all and the question has to be asked: do Athletic have a backup plan if Williams does leave?
All of this having been said, it still has to be reiterated that Athletic Bilbao remain likely to make it to next season’s Champions League. However, unless they make crucial changes in the off-season, it’s quite possible that they might not remain there for too long.
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