Carlo Ancelotti and the rest of the All Whites will travel to the Basque region on Saturday evening to take on Athletic Bilbao at the Estadio San Memes in a vital clash.
After dropping points last week to Villarreal, Real Madrid need to focus on keeping their La Liga lead by trying to gain a win at Athletic Bilbao. Their draw last week means their fierce rivals, Barcelona, are only two points back from the lead and are in fine league form lately. Bilbao on the other hand are firmly in midtable with 30 points, but a trip to the Copa Del Rey final guarantees them a spot in the Europa League. The last time these two teams met was back in October, and Real Madrid put on a show that day. Cristiano Ronaldo scored another hat-trick that day, making it three in four games at that point, and Karim Benzema added a brace to win 5-0 at the Bernabeu.
Real Madrid were held last week at home to Villarreal which was a great result for the opposition. Cristiano Ronaldo kicked off the scoring fifty-three minutes in scoring a penalty which was awarded after he was taken down by Eric Bailly. Gerard Moreno canceled out Ronaldo's penalty with his a nice. low strike from 18-yards out just beating Iker Casillas. Los Blancos are still not going to have Sergio Ramos or James Rodriguez for this matchup, but the possible return of Luka Modric will clearly give a boost to the squad in hopes of making it another season sweep of Bilbao.
Athletic Bilbao are coming off of back-to-back wins, one in the league and another in the Copa del Rey. They defeated Espanyol 2-0 midweek to set up a showdown against Barcelona. Goals were scored by Aduriz and Exeita sealed the visitors trip to the final trying in which the are trying to win the clubs 23rd title, second most in history of the competition only behind Barcelona. Their league victory last weekend was a 1-0 win away at Eibar with Carlos Guepgui's goal the only difference.
Bilbao have more injuries they are dealing with in comparison to Real Madrid. The injuries to defensive midfielder Iturraspe and centerback Aymeric Laporte are going to be huge losses for the Basque side. History is on Real Madrid's side as results have generally gone their way in this fixture, but don't be surprised if Athletic Club gives them a challenge.