Mbappe's Penalty saved as Athletic Bilbao Gorka Guruzeta wins it late #2430

Athletic Bilbao 2 Real Madrid 1FT

On Wednesday evening we would have a stunning clash in La Liga. We would be at the San Mamés Barria in Bilbao as Athletic Bilbao hosts Real Madrid. Two sides in the upper echelons of Spanish football at the moment. In what was setting the stage for a huge clash. Athletic Bilbao finished in the top six last season but failed to qualify for the Champions League. They have found themselves playing in the Europa League this season. The ambitions and objectives of the campaign are to return to Europe's first-rate competition. This past summer they made some decent business, but the most important thing they managed to do was retain. Nico Williams. The story of Nico Williams to Barcelona played the entire summer. Intensified after he got man of the match in the Euro final scoring on the night. However, Bilbao remarkably managed to retain him for at least another season. It turned out to be such a blessing because they are on the cusp of Champions League football. Once again. It's very early in the season. It's hard to make rash judgments based on this first portion of the campaign. However, they have been very impressive this season as things start to heat up. They are seven points behind Real Madrid in second and six points behind Atletico Madrid in third. The race for the Champions League seemingly looks like it will be between themselves and Villarreal. They only have two victories in their last five matches. However, that being said, they have been a tough out for everyone. They have come across this season. At home, it should be a full ounce and they will make the atmosphere as intimidating as possible for Real Madrid. Real Madrid has managed to pull off three consecutive victories in La Liga after getting swallowed by Barcelona about a month ago. However, this still isn't the real Madrid we expected to see. They lost two out of their last three matches in the Champions League against Liverpool and a below-average AC. Milan. While mbappe ranks in the top five in practically every statistical category in La Liga. It hasn't been the splash that many of us expected. He hasn't necessarily torn the league apart even though he has been more than sufficient. However, real Madrid has regressed and only more pressure will be put on the middle of the table. La Liga is still there for them though. Barcelona remained the heavy favorite to win the title. However, that being said, it is only a four-point split right now. A victory on Wednesday night. Could catapult them within a point after Barcelona fell on their sword against Las Palmas. A massive opportunity for Barcelona to close that Gap while Bilbao has a Champions League objective of their own. Everything was about to kick off on a Wednesday night battle in La Liga.

Bilbao wasted absolutely no time making the presence felt. In the opening 60 seconds. Nico Williams supplies a ball for Beñat Prados as he is making a run down the left side of the box, he uncorks a strike from that side but it collides with the Real Madrid defense. Real Madrid would have to be on their toes shortly afterward again as Bilbao persisted in their attack. In the fourth minute, Alex Berenguer locates the starman as he finds a pathway to get the ball to Nico Williams he strikes at a difficult angle before Courtois comes up with the save. Real Madrid showing a little bit of vulnerability early on. Eventually, the Los Blancos would find their way. However, it didn't come immediately. In the 13th minute, Fran García gets a deflection as it is blocked by Bilbao. Mbappe sticks it in the back of the net but he is called offsides. It has been his kryptonite this season considering the amount of offside goals he has scored this campaign. In the 21st minute, Real Madrid would get a freak kick from outside the box. Federico Valverde makes a run as he retrieves the ball from Rodrygo The Uruguayan follows through on a strike from a distance but it is nowhere near. Bilbao would formulate a reply not long after. In the 24th minute, Mikel Jauregizar takes the ball forward around the area before spotting Iñaki Williams as the ball is sent over to him, he retrieves it on the side of the box as he follows through leading to a deflection as it is cleared out by Madrid. The relentlessness from Bilbao would only continue. In the 31st minute, Alex Berenguer collects the ball from lñaki Williams. As he strikes through it, it trails off track in the end. Not exactly a first half full of chances. However, as the first half started to wind down, real Madrid gave themselves a late chance to try to poke their heads in front in the 43rd minute Antonio Rüdiger retrieves the ball from Rodrygo however, it is well defended by Bilbao as it misfires. The first half comes to a close with Bilbao and Real Madrid still searching for the opening goal.

Bilbao has been aggressive having been the stronger of the two sides in the first 45 minutes. Outside of the mbappe goal that was disallowed, they haven't done too much to truly threaten Bilbao Julen Agirrezabalan hasn't even needed to make a save yet. A big 45 minutes left and what could be a very important second half for both sides given their ambitions this season. The second half began similarly to the first. Bilbao operating on the offensive. Going right at rRealMadrid as the whistle blows. In the 48th minute, Mikel Jauregizar unleashes a strike from outside the box it crashes into The defense. In the 53rd minute, the home crowd got on its feet. Alex Berenguer puts it past Courtois into the bottom left corner just like that. Bilbao takes a 1-0 lead. Real Madrid's recent form. Continued to drag them as they now found themselves behind away from home as a huge opportunity to go within one point of Barcelona started to slip. In the 59th minute real Madrid start to come alive. Rodrygo delivers a ball into the box for mbappe the French Superstar strikes on goal but is ultimately denied by Agirrezabala. However, Bilbao still had a level of control. Sitting with the lead they still found themselves in a good position at home. Trying to just navigate the last half hour. In the 67th minute though, Real Madrid had a chance to break through. Agirrezabala brings down mbappe. A penalty is given to Real Madrid. Mbappe steps up and drives it towards the left only for Agirrezabala to make the terrific, save. All of a sudden it changes the circumstances significantly. In the 70th minute, Diaz finds Rodrygo from inside the box Bilbao defends the scenario very well as it comes off. In the 74th minute, Bilbao looked to kill it off. Nico Williams whips it over on the left side to Oihan Sancet but his goal attempt is blocked by Antonio Rüdiger. A minute later, Nico Williams tries it from the left side as it runs into the Real Madrid defense again. In the 78th minute, it finally happens for Madrid Mbappe hits out with a powerful strike at the goalkeeper Agirrezabala ends up making the safe. However. Jude Bellingham drives the follow-up into the bottom corner as Real Madrid get their equalizer with a little more than 10 minutes to go. It is now 1-1 with 12 minutes left. However, the moment in the Sun for Real Madrid did not last very long. In the 80th minute, Bilbao gets on the break Gorka Guruzeta jumps ahead of the Real Madrid defense keeping himself inside on the breakaway he takes one past Courtois into the bottom corner taking a 2-1 lead. Bilbao on The Fringe of pulling off a huge upset with 10 minutes left. In the 83rd minute, real Madrid looked to respond off the corner. Luka Modric drives the ball into the box Right into the space of Antonio Rudiger he gets his head on the end of it but it coasts over. Real Madrid try to find just one last row of the dice. However, it never arrives. The full-time whistle goes as Bilbao pull off a 2-1 victory at the San Mamés Barria.

Real Madrid mismanage a massive opportunity. They had a chance to go within one point of Barcelona. Barcelona is the far better team and most likely will win the title. Real Madrid given the context of their roster and what they have at their disposal. If things get close real Madrid certainly would have a chance to still win the title. However, a huge chance was missed. Madrid is now in a situation potentially that they'll need Barcelona to drop points for them to find an opening to close the gap. The headlines will go to mbappe. He misses the penalty in a critical moment. However, it would be very easy to pin this entire performance on him. However, we can't just do that. Bilbao was the better team from the first minute to the last. Real Madrid. Even managed to get back into the match even when they didn't deserve it. They struggled and they let Bilbao dictate everything. They were brilliant at home and they handled the situation extremely well. That being said, mbappe needs to be better. He would admit that he needs to take accountability for his actions. Missing the penalty is certainly a critical moment. It doesn't matter that Real Madrid got back into it. I don't think it's fair to completely blame everything on him, but his missed penalty played a role in how everything unfolded. Even though he ranks in the top five in most of the attacking categories in La Liga, he has had a couple of spotty Champions League performances this season. On top of that, real Madrid is losing matches that they never do. It isn't dead yet, but we have seen more insufficient moments from real Madrid than before. Mbappe is the best player in the world. Eight goals and one assist is a decent return. However, he was expected to come into Real Madrid and eviscerate La Liga. Take them to the treble. He has had a problematic start. However, he's not the only thing to blame here. What Real Madrid effectively have is three wingers and one that needs to play as a striker. Real Madrid have put themselves in an unfortunate position and it's mostly due to how good they are. Mbappe, Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo are all wingers. Unfortunately,y sometimes they have to play as a striker. The problem with this is if you're going to play all three of them at the same time. One of them is going to have to take up the role of a center forward. I trust mbappe to do this more than the other two and that is why he continues to be played as a striker. However, his natural position is out wide. So will we have? Here are three wingers one of which that is always going to have to play in the middle in a very difficult scenario that none of them can play all together in their natural positions. One person is going to have to be out of position at all times. Not to mention Jude Bellingham scored 20 goals last season as a midfielder. He was their primary attacking option in the goal-scoring department. They were reeling last season without a center forward. He's still been very good but he's not been as dominant as perhaps he was last season. Real Madrid needs to figure out a way to allow Jude Bellingham to be an attacking threat. He was last season while also using the three Superstars up front. The individual players need to take accountability and they are to blame for a lot of this. However, they have not figured out how to make this work and the longer it takes for them to make it click the harder it's going to be because Hasi Flicks Barcelona continues to be a huge threat. They were fighting behind the eight-ball through each match because Barcelona had the momentum. From an athletic Bilbao perspective, they handled the game very well. They were deserving of the three points and they have strength in their position in the Champions League. Villarreal sits two points behind and then Mallorca is five behind. They are in a very good position to qualify for the Champions League, but it's not done and dusted as of yet. However, with this victory, it's strengthening that position. They have a massive clash on Sunday as they will take on Villarreal with another one to keep their eyes on. Villarreal will come in rested as this was technically a game in hand. The Real Madrid. Have a great chance to get back in business against Girona as they will also throw down on Sunday. However, Wednesday night it was a 2-1 victory for Bilbao over second-place Real Madrid.