Real Madrid 3-1 Athletic Bilbao: 5 talking points as Los Blancos down 10-man Basques on home turf | La Liga 2020-21

Real Madrid made it four wins on the bounce in all competitions, with a 3-1 victory over Athletic Bilbao at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano seeing them go joint-top of the La Liga table.

The hosts came into this game buoyed by their derby victory over Atletico Madrid last weekend. However, the visitors were better in the opening exchanges before they were left with a mountain to climb following a moment of madness.

Raul Garcia - handed a start by Gaizka Garitano after four matches on the bench - barely repaid his coach's faith as he was handed a yellow card for a rash challenge on Toni Kroos in just the 7th minute.

Six minutes later, the former Atletico Madrid midfielder was at it again, with Kroos once more on the receiving end of a bad tackle, leaving referee Jesus Manzano with no choice but to give him his marching orders.

Despite the advantage, Real Madrid failed to exert their superiority until Vinicius was denied by Unai Simon's point-blank save in the 40th minute.

Just when it looked like both sides were headed into the break all square, Toni Kroos broke the deadlock with an exquisite shot from 25 yards to put Real Madrid 1-0 up.

Athletic Bilbao came out for the second half strongly and got the goal their play deserved when Ander Capa was on hand to score on the rebound after his initial shot had been parried back into his path by Thibaut Courtois seven minutes in the second half.

Real Madrid had the ball in the back of the net almost immediately but Vinicius Junior was rightly called back for offside.

Zinedine Zidane made two changes in the 64th minute, with Marco Asensio replacing Federico Valverde and Isco coming on for Vinicius, and the hosts soon regained their advantage.

Dani Carvajal put in a pin-point cross after a short corner-kick routine, and Karim Benzema glanced the ball into the back of the net with a precise finish.

It was a tale of two chances right at the death when Yeray Alvarez split the Real Madrid defence with a razor-sharp through-ball to play in Mikel Vesga but Thibaut Courtois stood tall to deny the Bilbao striker.

Real Madrid launched a quick counter-attack immediately. A three-way play between Benzema, Isco, and Luka Modric ended with the Frenchman putting the ball in the back of the net for a more comfortable victory, although Zidane was visibly still upset about his side conceding the chance just moments earlier.

The win sees Real Madrid go joint-top on the table with 26 points alongside Real Sociedad and Atletico Madrid.

Here, we shall be having a rundown of five talking points from the fixture.

#5 Real Madrid continue impressive resurgence

Real Madrid have won four consecutive matches

A defining week saw Real Madrid pick up convincing victories against Sevilla, Borussia Monchengladbach, and Atletico Madrid to inject life into what was previously a fledgling campaign.

The victory against the latter was particularly impressive, considering that their city rivals had been unbeaten in 26 domestic games.

Despite missing the suspended Casemiro - who picked up a fifth booking against last weekend - Real Madrid still did enough to get the job done against one of the more difficult opponents in La Liga.

Although they were far from their best, the three points were all that mattered and with the victory, Los Blancos keep marching on.

#4 Even in defeat, Athletic Bilbao can hold their head high

Athletic Bilbao matched Real Madrid for most of the game

Athletic Bilbao have started this campaign inconsistently and came into this game in 13th spot, having accrued 14 points from 12 games.

The Basque side played out a 2-2 draw with Valencia last weekend and started brightly against the defending champions before they were reduced to 10 men.

Despite their numerical disadvantage, Bilbao more than held their own and frustrated the hosts for the rest of the first half before Kroos' moment of magic broke their resilience on the stroke of half-time.

The visitors made a dream start to the second half when they equalised through Ander Capa and again stuck to their guns to keep Real Madrid at bay.

One moment's loss in concentration from Inigo Martinez was all Benzema needed to put his side back ahead but Bilbao should have grabbed an equaliser when Vesga found himself one-on-one with Courtois right at the death.

In many ways, a 3-1 scoreline suggests a more comfortable victory for Real Madrid than they deserved but Athletic Bilbao were more than worthy opponents despite playing with a man down for over 75 minutes.

#3 Rash Raul Garcia lets his team down against Real Madrid

Raul Garcia got a first-half red card

Considering Athletic Bilbao's bright start to the game, they would have fancied their chances of putting Real Madrid on the backfoot in the match.

However, Raul Garcia had other ideas and began the game like a man possessed, committing the first two fouls of the fixture before a third saw him sent off before the 15-minute mark.

His second challenge on Toni Kroos was unnecessary and meant that his side had to play against the defending champions with 10 men for over 75 minutes.

The 34-year-old stepped off the bench to score against Valencia but his performance in the capital was vastly different.

Raul Garcia's red card was the fastest suffered by a Real Madrid opponent since March 2007 when Cesar Navas was red-carded in the 6th minute while playing for Gimnastic de Tarragona.

#2 Zinedine Zidane continues unbeaten run against Athletic Bilbao

Zinedine Zidane is unbeaten against Athletic Bilbao

While Zinedine Zidane might still have his detractors, even the staunchest of critics cannot deny that the Real Madrid manager has an enviable record in management.

This game against Athletic Bilbao was Zidane's ninth La Liga fixture against the Basque side, and he continued his unbeaten run against them.

The 48-year-old has six wins and three draws against Bilbao, which is his joint-best unbeaten run against a league opponent.

#1 Karim Benzema to the rescue once again for Real Madrid

Karim Benzema scored a brace

Karim Benzema has grown in leaps and bounds since the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo two years ago, and the former Lyon man has fully settled into his new role as the chief goalscorer of the team.

Last week, the Frenchman had scored a brace to down Monchengladbach and secure a seeded spot in the Champions League knockout for Real Madrid.

Fresh from becoming the foreign player with the most appearances in the club's history, the Frenchman was at it again, with a second-half brace downing Athletic Bilbao.

His first goal was scored with his head, which was his 19th headed goal since 2018/19 and only Robert Lewandowski (28) has more in this time.

His brace also took him to 18 goals involvement against Athletic Bilbao (13 goals and five assists) in 22 league games, and this is his joint-most against an opponent in La Liga.