Real Madrid 3-1 Athletic Bilbao: 5 talking points as Los Blancos down 10-man Basques on home turf | La Liga 2020-21

#3 Rash Raul Garcia lets his team down against Real Madrid

Raul Garcia got a first-half red card

Considering Athletic Bilbao's bright start to the game, they would have fancied their chances of putting Real Madrid on the backfoot in the match.

However, Raul Garcia had other ideas and began the game like a man possessed, committing the first two fouls of the fixture before a third saw him sent off before the 15-minute mark.

His second challenge on Toni Kroos was unnecessary and meant that his side had to play against the defending champions with 10 men for over 75 minutes.

The 34-year-old stepped off the bench to score against Valencia but his performance in the capital was vastly different.

Raul Garcia's red card was the fastest suffered by a Real Madrid opponent since March 2007 when Cesar Navas was red-carded in the 6th minute while playing for Gimnastic de Tarragona.

#2 Zinedine Zidane continues unbeaten run against Athletic Bilbao

Zinedine Zidane is unbeaten against Athletic Bilbao

While Zinedine Zidane might still have his detractors, even the staunchest of critics cannot deny that the Real Madrid manager has an enviable record in management.

💪➕3⃣✨ HALA MADRID! ✨#HalaMadrid pic.twitter.com/q2F3B9dnGr

— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) December 15, 2020

This game against Athletic Bilbao was Zidane's ninth La Liga fixture against the Basque side, and he continued his unbeaten run against them.

The 48-year-old has six wins and three draws against Bilbao, which is his joint-best unbeaten run against a league opponent.

#1 Karim Benzema to the rescue once again for Real Madrid

Karim Benzema scored a brace

Karim Benzema has grown in leaps and bounds since the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo two years ago, and the former Lyon man has fully settled into his new role as the chief goalscorer of the team.

💪⚽️💬 @Benzema: "I think it’s very important to continue match in and match out, from final to final with three points."#RealMadridAthletic | #HalaMadrid pic.twitter.com/WPxu3gLaM2

— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) December 15, 2020

Last week, the Frenchman had scored a brace to down Monchengladbach and secure a seeded spot in the Champions League knockout for Real Madrid.

Fresh from becoming the foreign player with the most appearances in the club's history, the Frenchman was at it again, with a second-half brace downing Athletic Bilbao.

His first goal was scored with his head, which was his 19th headed goal since 2018/19 and only Robert Lewandowski (28) has more in this time.

His brace also took him to 18 goals involvement against Athletic Bilbao (13 goals and five assists) in 22 league games, and this is his joint-most against an opponent in La Liga.