Dani Carvajal capped off his farewell appearance for Real Madrid with a superb assist as Los Blancos secured a comfortable 4-2 win over Athletic Club in their final LaLiga outing of the season.
Match Report
Following a difficult final stretch to the campaign, Real Madrid looked eager to finish strongly at the Bernabéu while also honouring legendary full-back Carvajal. Making his 451st and final appearance for the club, the Spaniard produced a moment of quality early on, delivering a perfectly weighted pass into the path of Gonzalo García, who calmly controlled before slotting past Álex Padilla.
That opener gave the hosts full control of proceedings, and they nearly doubled their advantage soon after when Thiago Pitarch tested Padilla, only for the goalkeeper to produce a save. Athletic Club offered little attacking threat in response, with Gorka Guruzeta wasting their best first-half chance by heading off target. Having lost just once in the previous seven H2Hs (W5, D1), Madrid extended their lead before the break through Jude Bellingham, who finished clinically after meeting Pitarch’s floated delivery to net his second goal in three matches.
The visitors managed to pull one back deep into first-half stoppage time as Guruzeta volleyed home from an inviting cross by Iñaki Williams, giving Los Leones renewed hope heading into the interval. However, any momentum Athletic gained quickly disappeared after the restart when Kylian Mbappé added Madrid’s third with a composed low strike from outside the box, taking his LaLiga tally for the season to 25 goals.
To their credit, Athletic continued pushing forward, with Guruzeta and Adama Boiro both threatening to reduce the deficit. Still, those opportunities ultimately came to nothing as Madrid comfortably saw out the contest. Substitute Brahim Díaz later added a fourth goal from close range to put the result beyond doubt. Athletic did grab a late consolation through Urko Izeta’s towering header, but the damage had already been done.
The victory ensured Real Madrid finished the campaign with three consecutive league wins, although they ended eight points behind champions Barcelona. Athletic Club, meanwhile, missed out on a sixth straight top-half finish after suffering eight defeats in their final 12 LaLiga matches.