Kylian Mbappe delivered a masterclass on Wednesday night, scoring twice and assisting another as Real Madrid swept past Athletic Bilbao 3-0 to trim Barcelona’s La Liga lead back to a single point.
Xabi Alonso’s team, winless in its previous three league trips, snapped that skid in style with one of its sharpest and most controlled performances of the season at a raucous San Mames.
Mbappe broke the deadlock early, finishing off a crisp move sparked by Trent Alexander-Arnold’s first La Liga assist. Eduardo Camavinga doubled the advantage before halftime with a deft header that silenced the home crowd.
Madrid never loosened its grip. Mbappe capped the night with a thunderous second-half strike – his 16th league goal of the campaign – to seal a victory that keeps the pressure firmly on Barcelona.
“I think the team played a complete game today, concentrating for the whole 90 minutes ... It was probably the best match we’ve had, at a difficult place to go, at a big moment, and we took it on calmly and now we must continue,” Alonso told reporters.
“After last weekend’s draw at Girona we knew it was a big moment, and after getting it out of our system we’ll start thinking about Sunday’s match against Celta Vigo.
“The calendar is very demanding and you can’t think for too long about things, in the good moments and the bad ones.”
One negative for Los Blancos was apparent injuries for Alexander-Arnold and Camavinga in the second half, with both players substituted.
Mbappe missed a penalty in the same fixture last winter while still finding his feet at Madrid, later calling that moment his “rock bottom.” On his return, Athletic encountered a player in peak form.
“Kylian’s in great form. He scored two great goals today. With the movement he had, the connection with Vini (Vinicius Junior) was very good, and the team came out to play from the first minute, to win the game,” Alonso added.
Mbappe nearly sent Madrid ahead in the fourth minute, but Unai Simon made a smart save at his near post and then parried a Vinicius effort.
Madrid came out flying against eighth-place Athletic and took the lead in the seventh minute through a brilliant Mbappe goal.
Alexander-Arnold picked out the forward with a long pass, and Mbappe drifted menacingly toward the box before delivering a precise finish past Simon.
Gorka Guruzeta fired over and forced Thibaut Courtois into a good save at the other end on one of Athletic’s rare forays forward.
Their best chance came when Nico Williams and Alex Berenguer combined, but Courtois produced a superb stop to deny Berenguer.
The moment revived Madrid, which quickly reasserted control and threatened twice through Vinicius, whose link-up with Mbappe repeatedly unsettled the defense.
The Brazilian struck the outside of the post with a low effort from a tight angle as Simon rushed out. Minutes later, Simon made an excellent one-on-one save after Eder Militao sent Vinicius through on goal.
Madrid doubled its lead before the interval at the end of a flowing team move, with Mbappe nodding Alexander-Arnold’s cross back across goal for Camavinga to head in from close range.
Courtois tipped over Mikel Jauregizar’s fierce long-range strike early in the second half to keep Athletic from gaining a foothold.
Madrid’s first setback came when Alexander-Arnold pulled up with a suspected muscle injury and was replaced by Raul Asencio.
Mbappe put the game beyond doubt with another long-range effort that flew inside the near post for his 25th goal in all competitions. Simon might have done more to keep it out, blunting some of his earlier work.
Camavinga was taken off hurt later in what could be a second injury blow for Alonso, who enjoyed an otherwise ideal night in the Basque Country against one of his former rivals.
The coach even received a warm embrace from Vinicius when substituting the Brazilian, despite recent tension between them.
“They were stronger than us,” Athletic defender Inigo Lekue admitted. “We tried to play our game and couldn’t, no matter what we did.”
