Real Madrid 1-1 Athletic Bilbao: Player Ratings

Athletic Bilbao

Kepa Arrizabalaga: 9/10 - Man of the Match

Kepa was confident, calm and cool as he regularly frustrated Ronaldo among others with all sorts of saves

If not for Kepa's excellent goalkeeping, Bilbao probably would have found themselves down by a considerable margin before the half-time interval. Forced into making a handful of stops to deny Ronaldo, Marcelo and Asensio twice, he was refreshingly unfazed and seemed to just take it all in his stride.

Nothing he could do about Ronaldo's finish, which nestled in the corner before he had an opportunity to respond after a wicked deflection from Modric's initial effort goalwards. His team-mates will feel hard done by, but ultimately have their number one to thank for earning even a point here.

After an excellent individual display like this, Bilbao will be thanking their lucky stars that he opted to remain at San Mamés and sign a contract extension in January, with an increased release clause.

Oscar de Marcos: 6.5/10

Didn't get forward as much as he usually likes, was booked for a cynical foul late on but did okay defensively and distributed possession well (83.3%).

Unai Nunez: 7.5/10

Solid defensively and needed to be, in a match where lapses of concentration would've been pounced on quite easily, Nunez acquitted himself well and the match statistics prove that: two tackles, two interceptions, two clearances and three blocked shots.

Inigo Martinez: 7/10

Nunez's defensive workload was lessened in the presence of Martinez, who acted as the more experienced sweeper and was regularly clearing danger before it progressed further. Ten clearances, a tackle and two blocked shots - yet again, another resolute defensive display.

Mikel Balenziaga: 6/10

Deep down, he'll be frustrated with just how easily he was beaten by Real attackers on more than one occasion, which subconsciously gave them the confidence to continue probing down the flanks. Completed two dribbles but his ball retention was poor to say the least, 57.7% makes for grim reading.

Ander Iturraspe: 7.5/10

Workhorse. Iturraspe worked tirelessly to make it tougher for Real's midfield to penetrate Bilbao, especially as the hosts enjoyed spells with sustained possession - so it would've been a patient waiting for a game at times, deciding when to press, choosing when to sit and quickly establishing the balance between both.

11 clearances, four interceptions and two tackles later, Iturraspe was Bilbao's protector from a deep-lying midfield role, even if his passing was not at its usual high levels (77.3%).

Mikel San Jose: 6/10

Should have scored! Had a golden opportunity to do so in the first-half, having been played through on goal, but squandered the chance and fired towards Navas. Made two interceptions, two clearances but crucially, committed three fouls and was finally booked just before full-time.

Lekue: 5.5/10

A disappointing display by the 24-year-old, who didn't do enough in an attacking sense and was unsurprisingly replaced midway through the second-half. Only completed one dribble - which speaks volumes - but found himself largely more focused on defensive duties, which undoubtedly would have been frustrating.

Inigo Cordoba: 6.5/10

It was his beautifully-weighted pass which set Williams through on-goal with only Navas to beat, but moments of individual brilliance from him were infrequent here.

Operating on the left flank, his attempted long passes were largely inaccurate and just like others, had to focus more on contributing defensively having created his first assist of the league campaign.

Raul Garcia: 7/10

Another player who should have scored! Okay, perhaps this one was more difficult, but following Carvajal's heroic goal-line clearance, the Spaniard fired onto the crossbar and watched in disbelief as his chance flashed before his eyes.

Interestingly, won five aerial duels during the 90 minutes - joint highest alongside Ramos and also four completed tackles.. not what you'd usually expect from your creative midfielder!

Inaki Williams: 8/10

If Bilbao were going to get a goal, you could just tell it had to involve Inaki - after all, he was playing as their lone striker on this occasion. He utilised his blistering acceleration and physicality to prove a handful throughout, took his chipped finish well but lacked regular service to create more of note.

Inaki celebrates his well-taken finish, the 23-year-old's 10th goal in all competitions this term.

Substitutes:

Iker Muniain: 6/10

The talented winger tried to contribute both in an attacking sense as well as defensively, found himself stuck largely doing the latter though as Real pinned their visitors back.

Markel Susaeta and Aritz Aduriz were both not on the pitch long enough to warrant a fair rating.