"Give him another season", "Let bro retire from here" - Fans praise Real Madrid star after their 1-0 win over Athletic Club

Luka Modric earned the praise of some Real Madrid fans for this performance during the LaLiga match with Athletic Bilbao on Sunday (April 20). The veteran midfielder put in a good shift in midfield as Los Blancos secured a hard-fought 1-0 win at Santiago Bernabeu.

Having seen Barcelona grind out a win against Celta Vigo, Carlo Ancelotti’s men knew a win was necessary to keep up with their archrivals in the 2024-25 LaLiga title race. With this in mind, they started the game by dictating proceedings. While they had most of the ball in the first 45 minutes, they couldn’t create decent chances, which was evident by having just one shot on target.

Real Madrid upped the ante in the second half, and came close to opening the scoring after four minutes in as Eduardo Camavinga saw his effort denied by goalkeeper Unai Simon. Simon would go on to prove himself once again why he is Spain’s first-choice goalie, pulling another stunning save to prevent Jude Bellingham’s header from going in.

Vinicius Jr. thought he had given Real Madrid the lead in the 79th minute, only for the goal to be chalked off for an offside on Endrick. Bilbao currently has the best defensive record in LaLiga this season. And just when it seemed like their defensive resilience would pay off, they were undone with a Federico Valverde volley in the third minute of stoppage time.

While the Los Blancos faithful will definitely be happy with the win, one player who the fans were pleased with was Luka Modric. The Croatian had 102 touches in the 78 minutes he spent on the pitch, gave five key passes, created one big chance, and received a rating of 8.2 as per Sofascore.

After the match, fans took to social media to laud Modric for his performance, with one writing:

''Give him another season.''

Another tweeted:

''Some fans want him out lol.Still a better squad player than many. Let bro retire from here fam.2026.''

''Impressive! Doing this at this age is crazy,'' @sefa_edward2 wrote.

''Aging like fine wine🍷,'' @_KILO_77 chimed in.

“The team did well’’ - Carlo Ancelotti on Real Madrid’s 2-1 win against Athletic Bilbao

Ancelotti expressed mixed feelings while assessing Real Madrid’s performance against Bilbao. He was happy with his side’s overall performance but claimed they didn’t do well in the first half.

He said in the post-match press conference (via the club’s website):

“The team did well. We were slower in the first half, but in the second we did very well in every aspect. We wanted to win and react after getting knocked out and the team delivered.”

“In the first half, we had good control because we had more players in midfield. We didn't suffer the pressure that we usually get from Athletic Club. We didn't create chances because we were missing players between the lines, which we added in the second half. In the first half, we were aggressive and recovered quickly. The team was more solid and united, and we didn't concede a goal. That's good news, and let's see if we can continue to improve."

Real Madrid remain rooted in the second position on the table but have now cut the gap on Barcelona to four points at the top of the table.