BILBAO, Spain — Karim Benzema and late substitute Toni Kroos scored as Real Madrid beat Athletic Club 2-0 at San Mames on Sunday to stay within three points of Barcelona at the top of LaLiga.
Benzema shot left-footed past goalkeeper Unai Simon in the 24th minute — after Federico Valverde‘s ball into the box had been headed back to him by Marco Asensio — to put Madrid ahead.
Nacho and Asensio went close before Inaki Williams had a goal ruled out for offside as Madrid withstood some late Athletic pressure, and Kroos added a second in the 90th minute.
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Rapid reaction
1. Crisis averted with two Madrid wins in three days
Real Madrid went into this week on the brink of a crisis after defeats to Villarreal in LaLiga and Barcelona in the Spanish Supercopa threatened to derail their season. Those results, and the way the team was playing, made this run of games — away at Villarreal in the Copa del Rey, away at Athletic Club and then at home to Real Sociedad in LaLiga — feel like make-or-break for the team’s season and even the long-term future of coach Carlo Ancelotti.
Two of those matches have now been played, and with this 2-0 victory at San Mames and Thursday’s 3-2 win at Villarreal, Madrid are back on track.
The two games have been very different — the Villarreal game was a rollercoaster comeback and this was a matter-of-fact win, with some backs-to-the-wall defending — but the end result is that Madrid can now face what comes next, starting with a Copa quarterfinal derby against Atletico Madrid, with confidence.
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Of course, all of Madrid’s problems haven’t magically gone away. There are question marks over the solidity of the defence, important players like David Alaba and Aurelien Tchouameni are still out injured, and star forward Vinicius Junior isn’t quite at his electric best.
But the freshness and dynamism added to the team by the introductions of Dani Ceballos and Marco Asensio off the bench at Villarreal was largely maintained here.
Ancelotti always insisted that this team of proven winners would come out of their rough patch sooner rather than later, and on this evidence he was right.
2. Modric and Kroos benched in midfield shake-up
Madrid have often opted to rest either Luka Modric, 37, or Toni Kroos, 33, this season as the gradual generational shift towards youngsters Tchouameni, Eduardo Camavinga and Valverde continues. But this was the first time that Ancelotti had left both Modric and Kroos on the bench in LaLiga since the Italian returned to the club in the summer of 2021.
Modric has looked tired in recent weeks — Ancelotti has admitted the Croatian hasn’t been at his best post-World Cup — while Madrid’s comeback at Villarreal on Thursday was kickstarted by Kroos being taken off. Dani Ceballos replaced him and played a part in all three goals that night, scoring the late winner, and was deservedly rewarded with a start here at San Mames.
