5 \u2013 Kylian Mbappe \u2014 OptaJose (@OptaJose) December 3, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n That became a theme of the first half, with Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Junior and Mbappe regularly finding space in behind the Athletic defence or midfield. Los Blancos were unlucky not to be further ahead when first the post and then Unai Simon thwarted him with very presentable opportunities. Thibaut Courtois was forced into his customary big save though, with Alex Berenguer shooting low to his left after a neat backheel from Nico Williams. The Belgian\u2019s credentials as the best goalkeeper in the world remain as firm as his hand.<\/p>\n Before the break, Los Blancos scored arguably their best move of the season<\/a>. Bellingham, Vinicius and Alvaro Carreras exchanged passes before the Englishman swept the ball into the path of Alexander-Arnold. His cross was headed back across goal by Mbappe, and converted with ease by Eduardo Camavinga.<\/p>\n Los Leones started the second period on the front food, with Mikel Jauregizar drawing a strong save from Courtois, keeping Los Blancos in their own half. Further to Alonso\u2019 chagrin, Alexander-Arnold, having arguably his best game yet, pulled up ten minutes into the second period, with Raul Asencio forced to replace him.<\/p>\n Just as Athletic were getting a foothold in the game though, Mbappe was allowed to line up from outside the box, and it was to Simon\u2019s peril<\/a>. A vicious effort saw the net bulge for a third time at San Mames. As the second half went on, Los Blancos were contented to defend deep and exploit space on the break; Athletic probed for openings, but were largely unsuccessful. It is worth noting that Camavinga also departed after a challenge in midfield, but the issue did not look serious.<\/p>\n 25 goals for Kylian Mbapp\u00e9. <\/p>\n 4 assists. <\/p>\n Directly involved in 66% of Real Madrid’s 44 goals this season. Unbelievable numbers. pic.twitter.com\/o29kpnsvRX<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Ruairidh Barlow (@RuriBarlow) December 3, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Simon was again forced into a strong save from a Fede Valverde effort from distance, but the most notable thing about the final 20 minutes was the lack of atmosphere in San Mames, denoting the end of the contest. It was a result not inconsistent with Athletic\u2019s recent showings, but it will concern Ernesto Valverde that his side could not raise their game to intimate Real Madrid more, albeit they are missing a number of players.<\/p>\n For Alonso, it will be a deeply satisfying victory. In attack, his side were at times direct, at others probed for gaps in the defence, but always with a high tempo, making it difficult to live with them. Despite Courtois being forced into two good saves, it was also probably the quietest game he has had in some months. Combined, it made for one of Real Madrid\u2019s most complete performances of the season.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The post Kylian Mbappe paves the way for exuberant Real Madrid thrashing of Athletic Club<\/a> appeared first on Football Espa\u00f1a<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Athletic Club 0-3 Real Madrid Two Basque managers came into one of Spain\u2019s classic fixtures under pressure, as former Real Sociedad man Xabi…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3832,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3841"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3841"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3841\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3844,"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3841\/revisions\/3844"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\ud83c\uddeb\ud83c\uddf7\"](\"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/15.0.3\/72x72\/1f1eb-1f1f7.png\")
has scored five goals from outside the box for @realmadriden<\/a> this season across all competitions, more than any other player in Europe’s top five leagues. Sniper.#RealMadrid<\/a> ![\"\ud83e\udd0d\"](\"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/15.0.3\/72x72\/1f90d.png\")
![\"\ud83d\udc9c\"](\"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/15.0.3\/72x72\/1f49c.png\")
#ATHRMA<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/w0sAeRf1Qv<\/a><\/p>\nReal Madrid cruise to victory in eerie San Mames<\/h2>\n
![\"Kylian](\"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/kylian-mbappe-gol-celebra.jpeg\")
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