Atlético crushed in Bilbao as Real Madrid stay ahead of their city rivals

Atlético Madrid had an opportunity to take advantage of Real Madrid’s defeat by Real Betis and move above their city rivals. Instead, Diego Simeone’s team suffered a 3-0 loss against Athletic Club at San Mamés.

Two goals in the opening three minutes of the second half transformed the match. The result leaves Real two points ahead of Atlético after four LaLiga fixtures, meaning Madrid’s first defeat of the season caused less damage than it initially might have.

ATHLETIC STRIKE TWICE IN TWO MINUTES

Atlético made an encouraging start. Lee Kang-in hit the post after only two minutes, while Pablo Barrios also struck the woodwork before half-time. The visitors created opportunities but failed to turn them into a lead.

The punishment arrived almost immediately after the restart. Just 31 seconds into the second half, Iñaki Williams delivered from the right and Nico Williams headed past Jan Oblak.

Before Atlético could regain their composure, Athletic scored again. Robert Navarro completed a counterattack by cutting inside Alejandro Grimaldo and curling his finish into the net. Only two minutes separated the goals.

SIMEONE’S FOUR CHANGES CANNOT ALTER THE RESULT

Simeone responded in the 58th minute by making four substitutions at once. Julián Álvarez was among those introduced and later forced Unai Simón into a save, but Atlético never produced the sustained pressure required to rescue the match.

The visitors recorded 15 attempts, although Opta calculated their total expected-goals figure at only 0.86. Athletic, meanwhile, combined defensive control with far greater efficiency in front of goal.

Oihan Sancet completed the scoring in the 90th minute following good work from Iñigo Gerenabarrena. It was Atlético’s first league defeat of the season and extended their winless away run against Basque opponents to six LaLiga matches.

REAL RETAIN THEIR TWO-POINT ADVANTAGE

Real Madrid remain on nine points, while Atlético have seven after four games. Madrid’s 1-0 defeat by Betis ended their perfect start, but the three earlier victories provided a cushion that Simeone’s side failed to remove.

At the final whistle in Bilbao, Barcelona led the standings on goal difference with nine points from three matches. Real were second, while Atlético occupied seventh place before the remaining fixtures were played.

Real must still respond to their setback in Seville, but a potentially damaging weekend became considerably less severe. Atlético were given the chance to move ahead of their neighbours and left San Mamés with their heaviest defeat of the campaign.