Real Madrid 3-2 Athletic Bilbao

Sunday, 26 October 08, 08:08 PM · Comments(0)

Football returned to the Santiago Bernabéu stadium with an encounter between two classic sides of the Spanish league. The match lived up to expectations and to the achievements of both Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao.

Bernd Schuster came up with an offensive line-up. Robben returned to the starting eleven and Van der Vaart, Sneijder and Gago took on midfielder duties. Heinze took Fabio Cannavaro's spot as centre back with Pepe and Marcelo played as left back. Míchel Salgado flanked them on the right wing. Higuaín played as a striker with Raúl due to Ruud van Nistelrooy's suspension.

The first minutes indicated that Real Madrid would end up dominating the match. Sneijder came close from scoring with a 50-metre shot. Five minutes later, Higuaín scored from a cross by Robben, but the goal was disallowed due to a non-existent offside. Athletic also tried their best and left back Balenziaga became their strongest man in attack and Salgado cleared a cross of his that was clearly looking for Llorente inside the box.

The match slowed down and Real Madrid failed to find a clear way to reach Iraoz's goal until Heinze found Sneijder between Athletic's lines and served him the ball. The Dutchman didn't falter in the one-on-one against the Basque keeper and scored from a beautiful crossed shot with his left foot before the 15-minute mark. Bilbao didn't loose face and looked for an equaliser with long passes. Llorente came close to netting a header, but Casillas' incredible reflexes saved the day.

Athletic grew impatient and the Madridistas, guided by an all-powerful Gago and an omnipresent Sneijder, began to hurt them in defence. Higuaín penetrated into Athletic's ranks and, after leaving two defenders behind, passed the ball back to Sneijder, whose subsequent hit one of the posts.

The Whites finally found the way to hurt Bilbao and HIguaín tried to score his team's second strike with a beautiful lobbed shot that wasn't on target. Real Madrid played their best football during thoise minutes. Gago's playmaking skill was latent, Sneijder did what he wanted with the ball and Higuaín dominated inside Athletic's area, as proven by the team's second goal. Sneijder served the ball to Van der Vaart, who in turn passed it with his heel to Raúl, who distracted the defenders before assisting Higuaín to score.

The fans started to relax and to enjoy their team's lead, but a fast, confusing and messy play in which Iraola fell on the ground in pain distracted the team, alowing Etxeberria to defeat Casillas. The Whites' beautiful game gave way to Bilbao's imprecission and straightforward football. Eventually, just before half-time, the Basque's scored again thanks to an unfairly awarded penalty on Llorente.

Real Madrid played much better at the start of the second half. Higuaín had a chance with a crossed shot. Heinze tried to score one minute later, but his shot hit the crossbar. In the end, Higuaín scored the victory goal thanks to a brilliant pass from Gago, who saw his run way back in midfield.

Athletic grew powerless against the Madridistas, who wanted to finish them off with another goal. Guti and Diarra came on for Van der Vaart and Raúl -respectively- to freshen up the team's attack. Llorente came close to scoring an equaliser in the final minutes, but in the end Real Madrid won the game. They haven't lost at the Bernabéu in more then one and a half years...

Lineups

Real Madrid
Casillas
Sergio Ramos
Pepe
Heinze
Marcelo
Sneijder
Gago
Van der Vaart
Robben
Higuaín
Raúl

Athletic Club
Iraizoz
Iraola
Aitor Ocio
Amorebieta
Balenziaga
Orbaiz
Gurpegi
Susaeta
Yeste
David López
Etxeberria

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Tags: La Liga 08/09, Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder, Real Madrid, Athletico Bilbao

Topics: La Liga 08/09, Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder, Real Madrid, Athletico Bilbao

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