An early goal from Cristiano Ronaldo was quickly cancelled out by Javier Eraso after an error at the back from Raphael Varane, but two late first-half goals from James Rodriguez and Toni Kroos put the hosts back in control.
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Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo scores a goal during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Athtletic Bilbao at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016.
Zidane then makes his Champions League coaching bow in the first leg of a round-of-16 tie against Roma on Wednesday and is eager to maintain momentum going into the final months of the campaign.
In the 18th minute of a league match against Atlético Bilbao on Saturday, Navas made an incredible save when a Bilbao cross set up veteran forward Aritz Aduriz for a header that was going straight for the goal. The good thing is that we won the game.
Meanwhile, Gary Neville registered his first La Liga win as Valencia boss at the 10th attempt as they came from behind to beat Espanyol 2-1.
A fourth consecutive home win under Zinedine Zidane lifted Real up to second in the table – two points ahead of Atletico and one ahead of Barcelona, who are both in action on Sunday, and the Catalans also have another game in hand.
“I follow them (Tottenham) a lot”, said Modric.
In the late match, ninth-placed Deportivo La Coruna drew 2-2 at home to Real Betis who are 14th.
Ronaldo came close to extending the lead when he struck the post from range just after the break.
Athletic grew in confidence as Navas denied Aduriz’s towering header before the veteran striker hit the crossbar with a clipped effort from Mikel Balenziaga’s cross.
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Varane failed to communicate with keeper Keylor Navas in the tenth minute, sliding an ill-judged back pass instead of simply clearing a routine ball for a corner and allowing his defense time to organize. “It’s not only me, I think the change (of coach) has been good for all of us”.
