Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema. (Photo : Getty Images)
Spanish giants Real Madrid CF (15-3-5, 50 points) is set to host another top contending squad, Athletic Club Bilbao (10-8-5, 35 points), at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium on Feb. 13, Saturday as the 2015-2016 La Liga season moves forward.
Real pulled off a tough 2-1 win over bottom-three club Granada CF, who gave them somewhat of a scare, at the Estadio Los Carmenes in Andalusia, Spain last Sunday to "keep their fading La Liga title hopes alive", as reported by BBC Sport.
French striker Karim Benzema opened the scoring with a goal at the half hour mark off a low cross from teammate Dani Carvajal. Los Blancos kept the 1-0 lead up to the halftime break as the team also looked comfortable in the second half.
However, Granada's Moroccan striker Youssef El-Arabi threatened to push down Real six points behind Barça with an equalizer at exactly the hour mark of the match, but Croatian midfielder Luka Modric saved the day for head coach Zinedine Zidane as he netted the winner at the 85th.
The victory kept them in third place, just a point behind second-running Atletico Madrid and still four points clear of league leading FC Barcelona, as all three clubs have won their matches last week.
Meanwhile, Athletic Bilbao was held to a goalless draw by fourth-running Villarreal CF at the San Mamés Stadium last Saturday, as per SkySports.
The draw was Los Leones' third straight undefeated outing after wins over Getafe and Eibar in their previous two games, which steadied them at sixth place in the league table, two points behind Sevilla and a wide 10 points below the Yellow Submarine.
The predicted result is a 3-0 rout for Los Blancos as they are of a different level from Ernesto Valverde's boys this season. Real can't afford to lose anymore if they want to win the domestic title this season and the coach and players can sense that urgency.
Real Madrid starting lineup (4-3-3 formation): Navas; Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Marcelo; Modric, Kroos, Isco; Rodriguez, Benzema, Ronaldo
Athletic Bilbao starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Iraizoz; Martinez, Boveda, Laporte, Balenziaga; San Jose, Benat; Williams, Goni, del Moral; Aduriz
