Atletico Madrid vs Athletic Bilbao

The Metropolitano Stadium forms the backdrop for a mouth-watering La Liga showdown between Atletico Madrid and Athletic Bilbao.

Despite falling a man behind midway through the second half, Atletico Madrid scored a last-gasp winner to oust Celta Vigo 1-0 last time out, making it five La Liga matches without defeat in a row (W3, D2). However, Diego Simeone’s men cannot rest on their laurels, even though their lead on fifth-placed Real Betis stands at four points at the start of this round. While the Metropolitano Stadium used to be Atletico’s stomping ground in the past, their indifferent home league record in 2022/23 (W4, D3, L3) doesn’t make for good reading for ‘Los Rojiblancos.’ That said, they’ve not lost any of their last 11 home meetings with Athletic Bilbao at home (W9, D2), noticeably netting at least two goals in all nine wins in that run.

Against this backdrop, visiting Athletic Bilbao have gone unbeaten in three of their last four matches against Atletico Madrid in La Liga (W2, D1), though the only defeat in this sequence came in the reverse fixture earlier this season (0-1). Keen to avenge that loss, Ernesto Valverde’s side can fall back on their three-match unbeaten league run away to teams from the Madrid region (W2, D1). Moreover, ‘Los Leones’ have peaked in time to claim their vengeance, going from three consecutive La Liga defeats to back-to-back victories, including a come-from-behind 2-1 win at Valencia on their last league travel. But it’s worth noting that the Basque heavyweights have registered three straight top-flight wins only once since the turn of 2020.