MADRID: Real Madrid’s Federico Valverde netted a superb late volley to secure a 1-0 home win over Athletic Bilbao on Sunday that keeps them within four points of La Liga leaders Barcelona.

Real bounced back after their midweek Champions League exit at the hands of Arsenal to move up to 69 points, six clear of third-placed Atletico Madrid, who suffered a shock 1-0 loss at Las Palmas on Saturday.

A heavily rotated Athletic side had kept the hosts at bay until Valverde scored the winner three minutes into stoppage time, pouncing on a poor clearance to fire a volley into the far top corner.

“Fede has a very unusual shot, a very good one,” Real goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois said. “Yesterday in training he kicked a ball that looked like it was going wide and suddenly it took a spin and you think… How did you kick that? It’s very sharp, fast and powerful.

“In training he easily does one or two like that a week. We’ve been telling him for years: ‘shoot, shoot’.”

Vinicius Junior thought he had handed Real the lead with a low shot, but the 79th-minute effort was disallowed by the VAR for an Endrick offside in the build up.

After an uneventful first half, Jude Bellingham had Real’s first clear scoring chance with a close-range header, but goalkeeper Unai Simon made a brilliant save on the hour mark to keep the scores level.

Athletic, who reached the Europa League semi-finals on Thursday by beating Rangers, rotated heavily.

Despite that, the Basque side proved a hard nut for the defending champions to crack, especially with their top goalscorer Kylian Mbappe was suspended and recovering from an ankle problem.

The forward was whistled by some fans for his failure to help the team overcome Arsenal in the Champions League quarter-finals in midweek when he was shown watching the game on the stadium screens.

Athletic were solid at the back but didn’t threaten much offensively and their resistance finally broke and the late defeat leaves them fourth in the standings with 57 points.

“We played well, we defended until the end, but we know what Real Madrid are like at the Bernabeu,” Athletic’s Alex Berenguer told La Liga TV.

“I think the team responded well. Whoever plays, we do well, but they are a great team and they get you into the box and it’s difficult.”

Earlier on Saturday, mid-table Osasuna won 3-2 at last-placed Valladolid, which has lost 12 of its last 13 matches. Osasuna has won two in a row after nine matches without a win across all tournaments.

Sevilla, sitting in 15th place, drew 1-1 at home against 18th-placed Deportivo Alaves.

Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2025