Real Madrid - Athletic Club Bilbao predictions and free betting tips [31/03/2024]

On Sunday, 31 March, in the 30th round of the Spanish La Liga, Madrid's Real Madrid will host Athletic Bilbao on their turf. The hosts lead the standings, eight points ahead of Barcelona, while the Basque squad completes the top four and cannot afford a misstep.

Real Madrid

In recent weeks, Real Madrid, the main contender for the La Liga title, has been struggling to maintain a gap from Barcelona, who are on a roll. Currently, Los Blancos have an 8-point lead over the Blaugrana, but in case of a Barcelona victory over Las Palmas, the gap will be reduced to just 5 points. Before the international break, the Madrid footballers made it into the quarterfinals of the Champions League by defeating RB Leipzig (2:1 on aggregate) and will face Manchester City in the quarterfinals. Also before the break, Carlo Ancelotti's charges edged out Osasuna in the Basque Country (4-2), following a home win over Celta Vigo (4-0). Moreover, the hosts are performing excellently at Bernabeu, having secured 38 points in 14 home encounters, with 12 victories (the second-best record in the division).

French midfielder Camavinga suffered an injury in the match against the Chile national team, which took place on Tuesday evening, and his participation in the upcoming duel is highly doubtful. Thibaut Courtois, who had previously returned in action following an ACL tear, ended up relapsing and is ruled out for the rest of the season, as is David Alaba. On a positive note, centre-back Eder Militao is back and even has a chance of making the squad for the game against Athletic. Meanwhile, Vinicius (12 goals, 4 assists in La Liga) will serve a one-match suspension for an accumulation of yellow cards. La Liga's top scorer Jude Bellingham (16 goals, 3 assists) will orchestrate los Blancos' attacks, along with experienced Joselu (8 goals) and Rodrigo (8 goals, 5 assists).

Athletic Bilbao

The Lions recaptured the 4th spot in the race to the Champions League from Atletico Madrid and are currently only a point ahead of the Mattress Makers. The Basque side defeated Atletico in the Copa del Rey semi-finals without conceding a goal in both matches (an aggregate victory of 4:0). In La Liga, the striped team remains undefeated for three rounds, including victories over Las Palmas (2-0) and Alaves (2-0) thanks to a brace from Guruzeta before the international break. This season, the Red-Whites secured 20 points in 14 away matches, the fifth-best performance in the division, and the team hasn't finished fourth in the Spanish Championship for a decade. Next week, the visitors will face Mallorca in the country's Cup final; however, Valverde is unlikely to rotate his lineup drastically. 

Yuri Berchiche and Ander Herrera are injured and will certainly miss this encounter. There's also a significant uncertainty over the readiness of Muniain (often a substitute), who is training separately from the rest of the players. On a positive note, key central defender Paredes will return after serving a yellow card suspension. The coaching staff will likely field all the key players from the kick-off: Guruzeta (13 goals, 3 assists in La Liga), the Williams brothers - Inaki (9 goals, 3 assists) and Nico (3 goals, 8 assists in the league), and Alex Berenguer (6 goals, 2 assists). Oihan Sunset remained on the bench in the last round but will return to the midfield on Sunday.

Head-to-Head

Last season, Athletic drew 1:1 with Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu, but the Whites triumphed 0:2 on the first leg of the current campaign at San Mames.

Match prediction: Real Madrid - Athletic Bilbao

Real Madrid is the clear favourite: Los Blancos have managed only two victories at the Santiago Bernabeu throughout the 21st century. However, the "Lions" are battling fiercely for a Champions League spot and can't afford a blunder – Atletico is just 1 point behind and will undoubtedly seize upon a potential mishap by their rival. Given the personnel losses Madrid has suffered with Camavinga, Vinicius, and Alaba, it's reasonable to bet on a 1.5 headstart for the visitors.