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#3 Athelic Bilbao rued their missed chances
Athletic Bilbao could have sealed the game in the first half, but poor finishing let them down against Real Madrid. The visitors scuffed three clear-cut chances in a span of five minutes. Inaki Williams missed two golden chances after a couple of unforced errors from Real Madrid's back-line.
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Following that, Raul Garcia too missed an easy chance as he headed the ball straight to Thibaut Courtois who saved it with ease. Had the visitors scored any of their chances early on, Real Madrid would have had a tough job on their hands.
#2 Karim Benzema continues his onslaught for Real Madrid
Karim Benzema scored the winning goal of the night for Los Blancos. With this goal the Frenchman took his tally to 12 for the season. Benzema slotted in a mis-hit ball from Luka Modric to hand Real Madrid the lead in the 40th minute of the game.
Benzema persistently tried to get on the scoring end and even forced two great saves from Unai Simon before finally netting one in. Moreover, he was quite instrumental to Real's transition play higher up the pitch. Everything went through the Frenchman.
#1 A rock solid performance from Real Madrid's back-line in the second half
Athletic Bilbao looked like the superior side in the second half, but Real Madrid's back-line ensured they came out on top. Following a scrappy first half, Eder Militao and David Alaba gathered themselves and thwarted everything that came their way.
Meanwhile, Lucas Vazquez and Ferland Mendy defended like warriors on the flanks. The Spaniard's workrate was quite impressive and the amount of ground he covered back and forth to put in those vital blocks was quite comendable.
On the other hand, Thibaut Courtois was a rock between the sticks. The Belgian made vital saves to deny the visitors. His weekly performances cast doubt on how he could have finished eighth in the voting for the recently awarded Yashin Trophy.
