Real Madrid Vs Athletic Club Live Reddit Score 3/2/2022
Athletic Bilbao will be out for a measure of revenge against Real Madrid when they welcome Carlo Ancelotti’s side to San Mames for their Copa del Rey quarter-final on Thursday. Los Blancos overcame their upcoming hosts 2-0 in the Super Cup before the international break, with strikes from Luka Modric and Karim Benzema handing the capital side the crown. In spite of their Super Cup disappointment in Saudi Arabia, Athletic Bilbao can undoubtedly look back on the first few weeks of 2021 with unbridled fondness, as Marcelino led his side to a thrilling Copa del Rey win over Barcelona just four days after their defeat to Real Madrid.
Victories in La Liga, on the other hand, have been extremely difficult to come by for Marcelino’s men in recent weeks, but they entered the international break on the back of a 1-0 success at Rayo Vallecano courtesy of Nico Serrano’s winner on the half-hour mark. That narrow success marks just a third win from 13 in La Liga for Athletic, but a new year has seemingly led to a new wave of confidence in the San Mames outfit, who head into the quarter-final on the back of six wins from their last nine in all tournaments.
Athletic eased to an opening 2-0 Copa del Rey win over Mancha Real before seeing off Barcelona in extra time last time out, with Marcelino’s side seeking to make it three final appearances on the bounce after falling at the final hurdle in the 2019-20 and 2020-21 editions. One could hardly forget the memorable circumstances that Athletic found themselves in last year – losing to Real Sociedad in the 2020 final before defeat to Barca in the 2021 edition just two weeks later – and a first Copa del Rey crown since 1984 is therefore still eluding them.
The worrying sight of prolific poacher Karim Benzema leaving the pitch through injury seemed to rub salt in the wounds for Real Madrid against Elche, as Los Blancos found themselves 2-0 down against Francisco Rodriguez’s side three days after needing extra time to knock them out of the cup. However, with less than 10 minutes remaining on the clock, Luka Modric’s penalty preceded an Eder Militao header in second-half injury time to rescue a point for the capital side, whose five-game winning run across all tournaments came to quite the abrupt end at the Bernabeu.
A four-point lead over Sevilla at the top of the La Liga rankings is still a healthy one, but Los Blancos may end up ruing those two dropped points as the Champions League takes centre stage once more, with Paris Saint-Germain lying in wait two weeks from now. The 2-2 draw with Elche did mark the sixth game in a row that free-scoring Real Madrid have found the back of the net at least twice, and both of their Copa del Rey wins so far this term have come away from home, starting with a simple 3-1 success at Alcoyano.
Athletic were swept aside by Real Madrid in the final of the Spanish Super Cup last month – their fourth successive defeat against the Bernabeu side – but Los Blancos have been sent packing in the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey three times since 2016. Totally unaffected by international call-ups due to their Basque policy, Athletic should enter the quarter-final with nearly a clean bill of health, although Unai Vencedor’s hamstring issue will likely render him unavailable.
Yeray Alvarez, Oihan Sancet and Oscar de Marcos should all be fine to take part, while Iker Muniain will also expect to feature in some capacity after recovering from a bout of coronavirus. Whether the skipper is fit to start remains to be seen, but if not, 19-year-old Nico Williams will certainly push for a place in order to accompany his brother Inaki Williams once again. As for Real Madrid, Carlo Ancelotti has been left short in the left-back area for this contest, with Marcelo serving a lengthy Copa del Rey suspension and Ferland Mendy out with an adductor problem.
Casemiro and Vinicius Junior are not expected to play for Brazil against Paraguay with World Cup 2022 qualification sealed, but they may not be in perfect condition to start, while Rodrygo and Federico Valverde are also in the squad Marco Asensio has been passed fit for this battle, but Mariano Diaz and Karim Benzema are both absent, so Ancelotti may have to rely on Luka Jovic as his focal point here.
The Copa del Rey is back in action with another set of matches this week as Athletic Bilbao take on Real Madrid on Thursday. Both teams have impressive players in their ranks and will want to win this game. Athletic Bilbao are in ninth place in the La Liga standings and have been fairly inconsistent this season. The Basque outfit edged Rayo Vallecano to a 1-0 victory last month and will want a similar result this week.
Real Madrid, on the other hand, are at the top of the league table at the moment and have been impressive this season. Los Blancos were held to a 2-2 draw by Elche in their previous game and will need to bounce back in this fixture. Real Madrid have an impressive record against Athletic Bilbao and have won 36 out of 52 matches played between the two teams. Athletic Bilbao have managed nine victories against Real Madrid and will need to step up in this fixture. The previous meeting between the two teams took place in the Spanish Super Cup final and ended in a 2-0 victory for Real Madrid. Athletic Bilbao were outplayed on the day and will need to prove a point this week.
Athletic Bilbao possible starting lineup:
Simon; De Marcos, Alvarez, Martinez, Balenziaga; Berenguer, D. Garcia, Zarraga, Muniain; I. Williams, R. Garcia
Real Madrid possible starting lineup:
Lunin; Carvajal, Militao, Nacho, Alaba; Modric, Camavinga, Kroos; Bale, Jovic, Hazard
Event details:
NAME: Athletic Club – Real Madrid
DATE: 3 Feb 2022
TIME: 20:30 UTC
VENUE: San Mames, Bilbao, Spain
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