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Athletic Bilbao vs Real Madrid in less than 3 minutes

Real Madrid continued their dominance at top of La Liga at the weekend with a hard fought win in the Basque Country as they eventually got the better of Athletic Bilbao at the San Mames.

Zinedine Zidane’s side go into the winter break with a 2 point advantage over the arch rivals Barcelona but more importantly they have a game in hand over the Catalan giants and that 2 point gap could very well be extended to 5 further down the line.

Real who have not won a league title since 2012 took the lead through French international Karim Benzema on 25 minutes, it was Cristiano Ronaldo who squared for Benzema and he placed a right-footed shot past goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga to put Los Blancos ahead.

That was how it would stay going into the break but they would eventually be pegged back by the home side on 64 minutes, Athletic’s Raul Garcia headed a cross across the box to 36-year-old Spanish international Adrian Aduriz who placed his header past Kaylor Navas from close range.

But parity was only restored for a handful of minutes when Real would once again get their noses in front. It was not one of the superstars that put the Madrid side ahead again but one of the supporting cast. Toni Kroos’ corner was flicked on by Ronaldo to Casemiro at the far post, who controlled with his chest and then shot from close range to score.

That would be enough to give Real Madrid all three points and further ramp up the pressure on Barcelona who played a day later. The fact they have been paired with Bayern Munich in the Champions League Quarter Finals means their hopes of retaining the trophy have diminished slightly but they now look clear favourites to capture a first La Liga crown in 5 seasons.

Here is all you need to know from Saturday

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