Athletic Bilbao 2-1 real Madrid (Bellingham). Madrid remains second. Here is my reaction to the game. On the go: player reviews, post-game interviews and a podcast.

Top of the table was just a few points away for Real Madrid, but a trip to Athletic Bilbao has proven a difficult hurdle in recent seasons. Raúl Asencio was on everyone’s lips at the moment, taking a very rare look at La Fábrica’s developments and other potential prospects that could seemingly appear out of nowhere. One of them, Gonzalo García, was on the bench today. Dani Ceballos started in the middle, alongside the returning Aurélien Tchouaméni. Rodrygo Goes led the attack alongside Kylian Mbappé. Lucas Vázquez was captain of the team.

An early attack by Nico Williams was an indicator of how difficult this game was going to be – but Kylian Mbappé appeared to have made the task much easier after firing past the goalkeeper only to be called out for offside by VAR. Bilbao then almost took the lead after spurning a shot in the penalty area in what turned out to be the last play of the first half. 0-0 goes into the tunnel.

The second half was expected to be more exciting as the home team took the lead with a narrow goal from close range. Antonio Rüdiger hit the crossbar with a powerful header before Madrid saved the game with a penalty after a foul in the box. Just like at Anfield, Kylian Mbappé stepped up to score and just like at Anfield, the Frenchman missed from twelve yards… Jude Bellingham looked like he could do something more with a goal with ten minutes left for Madrid, but just moments later Bilbao regained the lead with a fine finish after a mistake by Fede Valverde. Full time, 2-1 – and a huge chance to go top of the table after 16 games played, but with a win against Girona in three days they can still reduce the gap to one point. What do you think about the game?