This will be Athletic’s starting eleven: Iraizoz; De Marcos, Etxeita, Laporte, Balenziaga; Benat, Iturraspe; Lekue, Eraso, Sabin Merino; Aduriz. “Gareth is such an important player for us that we are not going to take any risks”.
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Zinedine Zidane described Cristiano Ronaldo as “bloody brilliant” after his double helped Real Madrid to a 4-2 La Liga win over Athletic Bilbao on Saturday.
However, Bilbao eventually made use of their numerical advantage as Gorka Elustondo headed home in the final minute of the match, but it was too little too late as it ended 4-2 in favour of Los Blancos.
“It is true it has been a bit more hard away from home but we have also scored five and six goals at home”, he added, referring to heavy victories over Sporting Gijon and Espanyol.
13/02/16 Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo falls to the ground.
We’re quite sure that Lionel Messi wouldn’t be able to nutmeg Zidane either, and he certainly shouldn’t try.
Ronaldo had been much criticised for his poor performance as Madrid struggled past Granada last weekend, but was sharp from the off back on home soil as he turned inside from Karim Benzema’s pass and smashed home his 31st goal of the season.
“[Zidane] gives you more encouragement to play well and know what you are worth”.
Zidane said Bale was “in good spirits” although he is set to miss at least the first leg of Real’s Champions League last-16 clash with AS Roma in Italy on Wednesday.
Luka’s blocked transfer to Chelsea and his eventual sale to Real Madrid felt extremely contentious at the time, but looking back on it it’s clear that allowing him to move on to one of the biggest clubs in the world was the right decision for his development as a professional. He talks a lot with everybody and I think it’s good for our play.
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Elsewhere, Villarreal strengthened their position in fourth thanks to Roberto Soldado’s solitary goal in a 1-0 win over Malaga. We can’t decide how things happen.
