Karim Benzema struck twice to defeat San Memes outfit.
Keylor Navas misses record by five minutes.
Real Madrid defeated Athletic Bilbao 2-1 after a stunning display from Rafa Benitez' men. The Los Blancos' scored twice, thanks to Benzema, and produced a great display despite the absence of Ramos, Bale and James.
Karim Benzema was the star of the day while his counterpart Cristiano Ronaldo failed to shine on the night.
More notably, Benitez carved a 4-3-3 formation to break Valverde's tough men. Varane, Pepe, Marcelo and Carvajal all started. The midfield trio, though, was filled by Modric, Kroos and Kovacic. Isco replaced injured Bale and Benzema and Ronaldo started as usual.
Both the sides started the game positively with Bilbao creating the first chance. Sabin tucked in for Aduriz who ran with the ball before being tracked by Varane. The French defender came up with a sliding tackle from the ball to cancel the shot.
Real Madrid's first chance was for Benzema. The striker tried a bicycle kick well over the bar. However, Real Madrid went one up in just 22 minutes.
Karim Benzema made no mistake to punish Bilbao for their error. Iraizoz passed a goal kick to San Jose who awfully returned it to the shot stopper only for the Frenchman to score with a simple finish.
It was all for Real in the first half then. They had a number of chances, most notably, Kovacic, whose shot was saved in the best possible way by Iraizoz. Ronaldo scored a powerful volley, similar to James volley against Almeria last season, only for Iraizoz to keep that out.
Benzema, too missed a sitter, though it was hard and the ball came with great pace. Bilbao scored a header, saved by Navas, who was excellent throughout the game.
Athletic dominated the start of second half. They kept the possession well and Real defended at their best.
Raul Garcia and Pepe were in a heated exchange throughout the game and the Spaniard deserved a sent off for all his roughness.
Navas was on a roll for becoming the first Real goalkeeper to not concede a goal for four matches and 72 minutes in the league. However, this feat was unachieved by just five minutes and Sabin equalised with a header in 67 minutes.
Pepe failed to handle a dispossessed ball from San Jose, who passed it to Susaeta. The midfielder chipped in for Sabin Merino, who was unmarked, and scored a diving header into the net.
Then, it was all for the next goal for Real Madrid. They were in 100% possession till the next goal.
Benzema scored a tap-in to rescue Madrid. Modric delivered a beautiful no-look pass to unmarked, waiting Isco, who dribbled from the right into the box before assisting the Frenchman for an easy tap-in.
Bilbao should have equalised, if it wasn't Navas. The Costa Rican saved two clean shots to give Real all the three points.
Real Madrid could have made it 3-1 but a tired Ronaldo failed to handle Jese's through ball.
With the hard fought win, Real Madrid look like a team to beat this season and they lie top of the table with Celta, who stunned Barcelona last night, 4-1.
The next match will be played against Malaga this Saturday at home.
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