La Liga: Athletic Bilbao vs Real Madrid player ratings as Karim Benzema’s brace fires Los Blancos to a 2-1 victory


La Liga: Athletic Bilbao vs Real Madrid player ratings as Karim Benzema’s brace fires Los Blancos to a 2-1 victory

Athletic Bilbao vs Real Madrid: League leaders Real Madrid squared off against Basque side Athletic Bilbao at the San Mames Stadium in matchday 19 of La Liga 2021/22.

ADVERTISEMENT

Real madrid came out with a crucial 2-1 victory against one of the strongest sides in the division, to keep their lead at the top of La Liga. Karim Benzema scored a stunning goal to give Los Blancos the lead in the third minute, and doubled his tally a few minutes later to set them up perfectly for the remainder of the game. Bilbao responded with a beautiful goal of their own from Oihan Sancet, who struck from long range.

The three points meant that Real Madrid will head into the Christmas break as league leaders with 46 points from 19 matches. Bilbao on the other hand, are 10th in the table with 24 points from 19 matches.

Here are the player ratings for the Athletic Bilbao vs Real Madrid fixture.

ADVERTISEMENT

Athletic Bilbao vs Real Madrid Player Ratings

Athletic Bilbao

Real defeated Bilbao 3-1 when they went face to face in the league in January

Athletic Bilbao

Julen Agirrezabala (6/10):  The Spanish goalkeeper did not have one of the best nights as he faced difficult situations quite early up on the game conceding two goals. Although he picked his game in the latter half of the game to support Bilbao steadily at the back.

Unai Núñez (5/10): The 24 year old Spanish defender made a quite a lot of mistakes and could have been much better throughout the game. Nunez was directly responsible for the second goal of Real Madrid as he gave away the ball just edge of the box for Karim Benzema to finish later.

Yeray Álvarez(5.5/10):  Yeray provided Bilbao sturdy support at the backline and recovered the bakll quickly. The Spaniard could have been much better early on in the game to stop Real Madrid from taking the lead.

ADVERTISEMENT

Mikel Balenziaga(5/10): Balenziaga was defensively weak and failed to keep up with Eden Hazard several times in the match. The Left back could have been much agile and patient to stop Real Madrid’s attack from the right side of the pitch.

Óscar de Marcos(6/10):  Marcos was not fast enough to keep up with the pace of Vinicius Junior who created a lot of trouble for the right back. He provided quite decent support to Bilbao in the front line and provided Sancet the assist to score the only goal for Bilbao in the match.

Unai Vencedor(6.5/10): The Young Spanish midfielder was one of the best players on the pitch. The Youngster provided some top notch passes and helped Bilbao to create several decent attacks in the front.

Dani García(5.5/10): The Midfielder provided quite decent passes and helped to recover the ball several times. Garcia was not only strong to help Bilbao in attack but also provided decent support in defense too.

ADVERTISEMENT

Iker Muniain(5.5/10): The Captain of Bilbao gave away the ball some times in the first half of the game but provided a far improved gameplay in the latter half.

Oier Zarraga(5.5/10): Zarraga was decent in the game and provided very good support to the Bilbao forwards in the attack. Zarraga was taken off at the 57th minute of the game for Nico Williams as Marcelino Toral aimed to inject some pace and fresh legs for the attack.

Oihan Sancet(7/10):  The Spanish youngster was the man who provided hope for Athletic Bilbao by scoring the only goal of the match at the 10th minute of the game as he reduced the difference to 2-1 quite early in the game.

Iñaki Williams(6/10): The Spanish forward was not able to create much impact in the first half of the game as he gave away balls too much but set a strong foothold in the latter half creating problems for the Los Blancos defenders several times but unfortunately failing to deliver the final outcome.

ADVERTISEMENT

Substitutes

Nico Williams(6/10): The Spanish brotherly duo of Nico and Inaki Williams created a lot of problem for Real Madrid in the second half as they were fast and agile on the frontline. Nico created a positive impact through his game in the second half but was not able to deliver the ultimate result.

Raúl García(5.5/10): Garcia the former Athletico Madrid experienced forward was there to deliver his performance. Garcia delivered some powerful shots towards the goal but was not able to get the ultimate and final say in the match.

Iñigo Lekue (N/A)

ADVERTISEMENT

Nico Serrano (N/A)

Real Madrid

Thibaut Courtois (7/10): It took a special strike from Sancet to beat the Belgian goalkeeper, who put in a couple of huge saves towards the end of the match.

Nacho (7/10): Nacho deputised for Alaba brilliantly, showing his aerial presence and pace to stop the counter attacks from the Athletic Bilbao strikers.

Éder Militão (7.5/10): Continued his strong showing in defence, hardly allowing Inaki Williams any space to run in behind him. He was also sneaky in winning important freekicks towards the end.

ADVERTISEMENT

Ferland Mendy (6.5/10): Mendy was the more impressive of the Real Madrid’s fullbacks bringing the ball out confidently. He also kept the Williams’ brothers quiet down his left flank.

Lucas Vázquez (6/10): Vazquez made continuos forrays down the right flank linking up with Hazard, but lacked the final pass. He was sloppy in possession in defence almost gifting away a goal to Bilbao.

Eduardo Camavinga (7/10): The French prodigy performed commendably in the defensive midfield position winning a number of challenges in the middle of the park both fairly and unfairly.

Toni Kroos (7.5/10): Toni Kroos was metronomic yet again controlling the flow of the game for Real Madrid. He also did brilliantly to make crucial recoveries for his side.

ADVERTISEMENT

Federico Valverde (7/10): Federico Valverde was the engine of the side through the midfield. He put in a real shift creating many chances with his runs from midfield.

Karim Benzema (8.5/10): An exceptional performance from the French striker overall, as he scored a beauty to open the scoring and then added a second inside the first seven minutes of the match.

Vinícius Júnior (7/10): An industrious performance from the Brazilian winger who did not find much joy in attack with Bilbao’s setup. However, his defensive workrate was exceptional.

Eden Hazard (7.5/10): The Belgian striker, showed glimpses of his old self, with his burst of pace and drag flick passes. He was very close to scoring his first goal, but passed it on for Benzema.

ADVERTISEMENT

Substitutes

Mariano Diaz (NA)

Peter Gonzalez (NA)

Luka Jovic (NA)

ADVERTISEMENT

ALSO READ: LaLiga: Sevilla vs Barcelona player ratings as the match ends in a disappointing 1-1 draw