Real Madrid win at Athletic Club takes La Liga title race to final day
Real Madrid took the Spanish title race to the final day of the season with a 1-0 win over Athletic Club on what was a dramatic day in La Liga.
Zinedine Zidane and his players had one eye on events unfolding at the Camp Nou and Wanda Metropolitano throughout with all three title rivals playing at the same time.
A low-key first half produced few opportunities for either side, although Real Madrid might have been awarded a spot kick for a potential handball by Jon Morcillo. A VAR check denied the visitors, though.
🧊 Cool as you like…
💯 @Miguel3Guti pic.twitter.com/scd0bYc9Uw— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) May 16, 2021
Real Madrid made the breakthrough after 68 minutes when Nacho Fernandez deflected a Casemiro cross into the box. VAR was used to judge whether Karim Benzema was offside, but the Frenchman wasn’t interfering with play.
Athletic Club finished the match with 10 men following the red card shown to Raul Garcia, giving Real Madrid the chance to see out the result with relative ease.
🏁 FT: @Athletic_en 0-1 @realmadriden
⚽ @nachofi1990 68' #AthleticRealMadrid | #Emirates pic.twitter.com/KipQf5trCa— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) May 16, 2021
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The win at San Mames looked set to take Real Madrid to the top of La Liga as Atletico Madrid trailed 1-0 to Osasuna, but Diego Simeone’s side scored two late goals to keep their two-point advantage heading into the final round of fixtures of the season.
Meanwhile, Barcelona’s shock defeat at home to Celta Vigo means Ronald Koeman’s side are out of title contention.