Prediction: Real Madrid win
Best Odds: 4/7
Bookmaker: 888sport
The intense and exhilarating La Liga title race over in Spain is still ongoing with three clubs – Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid and Barcelona – still being in with a decent shot of winning the big one. Atletico lead the way and Barca seem to have lost some ground in recent weeks but when it comes to Real Madrid, they’re the dark horses that seem to be flying under the radar. This weekend, they’ll hope to move into pole position in this battle when they take on Athletic Bilbao.
Athletic Bilbao
Losing consecutive Copa del Rey finals in the space of just a few weeks must be the definition of tough to take for Athletic Bilbao fans, but all they can really do now is focus on what’s ahead of them. They want and need to finish the season strong in order to set themselves up for the summer, and even though they’re going to be the heavy underdogs heading into this fixture, they’d love nothing more than to play the role of spoiler.
Team News
There are injuries and absences just about everywhere you look within this Bilbao squad as Nolaskoain, Capa, Muniain, Lekue and Berchiche have all been ruled out with Vicente being a fitness doubt.
Real Madrid
Real Madrid may not have quite been able to muster up the quality required to reach the final of the Champions League this season but they’re still in with a great shot of winning the La Liga title – provided most results go their way in the next few weeks. Zinedine Zidane understands what he needs to do in order to get this squad ready for the pressure of the next couple of games, which should lead to a pretty intense end to the campaign.
Team News
Varane is viewed as a fitness doubt right now with the following players already being ruled out of the trip to Bilbao through injury: Vazquez, Carvajal, Mendy and, of course, the controversial captain himself Sergio Ramos.
Factors to Consider
- In their last meeting back in January, Bilbao beat Madrid 2-1.
- Bilbao have won two, drawn three and lost one of their last six games.
- Madrid have won two, drawn three and lost one of their last six games.
- Bilbao have scored seven goals and conceded six in their last six games.
- Madrid have scored nine goals and conceded six in their last six games.
Bilbao are a tough match-up for just about anyone in this league and can constantly cause problems for just about anyone. Alas, Madrid are veterans when it comes to plucking big results out of nowhere at this stage of the campaign, and we think that’s exactly what they’re going to do here. Their intention is to push city rivals Atletico every step of the way and even though it isn’t going to be pretty, we still expect them to take this to the final day of the season. Prediction: Real Madrid win Best Odds: 4/7 Bookmaker: 888sport
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