Barcelona: Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 49th and 50th goals in all competitions this season as Real Madrid won 3-0 at Athletic Bilbao on Sunday, while Barcelona didn't need Lionel Messi to brush aside Real Zaragoza 3-0 and ease closer to the Spanish league title. Ronaldo opened with a dipping free kick two minutes in and scored again in the 69th, before passing for Gonzalo Higuain to net a third in the 76th.
"We have a great player in Ronaldo," Real Madrid midfielder Xabi Alonso said. "He is so competitive. He wants to play every game and score as many goals he can. We got a great result tonight that lets us continue in second place."
Barcelona's own convincing victory led by a double from 21-year-old forward Cristian Tello kept it 13 points clear of Madrid with seven rounds to go. Elsewhere, Radamel Falcao scored twice in Atletico Madrid's 5-0 rout of Granada as they remained three points behind Madrid in third place, while Real Sociedad cemented their hold on fourth place and the last Champions League spot by winning 2-0 at Rayo Vallecano.
Ronaldo struck a perfect free kick to put Madrid ahead at San Mames Stadium. Known for his blistering long-range blasts, Ronaldo instead used an exquisite bending effort to swerve the ball over the barrier and land it beyond the reach of goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz....
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08:33 AM, Apr 15, 2013
Seville: Striker Alvaro Negredo scored twice on Monday to give Sevilla a 2-1 win over Athletic Bilbao in a physical Spanish league match in which both teams had a man sent off. With the game heading for a draw, Negredo surged forward to tap in Jose Antonio Reyes' cross between last defender and the goalkeeper to grab the win three minutes from time. The game at Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium had...
04:57 AM, Apr 09, 2013
Muniain came on as a second-half substitute and curled a loose ball into the corner of the net for in the 79th minute. ...
11:45 PM, Mar 10, 2013
Sociedad fought back to claim a long-coveted 3-1 victory at Bilbao in the 66th and final derby to be played at San Mames stadium. ...
08:22 AM, Feb 23, 2013
Juventus are close to signing Athletic Bilbao striker Fernando Llorente, club's director general Giuseppe Marotta confirmed. ...
07:40 PM, Jan 22, 2013
Betis strengthened their hold on fourth place and Spain's last Champions League spot. Bilbao moved up into 15th, four points from the relegation zone. ...
08:26 AM, Jan 22, 2013
Deportivo La Coruna beat visiting Malaga 1-0 thanks to Luis Afonso's second-half goal. ...
08:38 AM, Jan 06, 2013
Striker Aritz Aduriz scored his 11th goal of the season to give Bilbao the lead in the sixth minute. ...
10:24 PM, Jan 05, 2013
Barcelona: Malaga strengthened its hold on fourth place in the Spanish league with a convincing 2-0 win at Sevilla in Saturday's Andalusian derby based on yet another impressive defensive performance away from home. Manuel Pellegrini's Malaga kept their fifth clean sheet through eight road games this season as they climbed to within four points of Real Madrid before the defending champions host Espanyol on Sunday. After withstanding Sevilla's early push...
07:42 AM, Dec 16, 2012
Barcelona: Lionel Messi scored twice on Saturday as Barcelona made the best start in the history of the Spanish league on Saturday with a 5-1 home win over Athletic Bilbao. The leader's 13 wins and a draw in the opening 14 rounds surpasses Madrid's 12 wins and two draws to begin the 1991-92 campaign. Messi's 11th double of the season leaves him one goal shy of Gerd Mueller's record of...
02:40 AM, Dec 02, 2012
Barcelona: Striker Aritz Aduriz scored twice to give Athletic Bilbao a 2-1 victory at Granada on Sunday, the struggling Basque side's first away win of the Spanish league season. Bilbao finally showed flashes of the attacking verve that led it to the finals of the Europa League and Copa del Rey last season and made it one of the surprises of European football with memorable wins over Manchester United. Aduriz...
08:42 AM, Nov 05, 2012
Barcelona: Fernando Llorente played for Athletic Bilbao for the first time this season and added a goal to Aritz Aduriz's double to help secure a 3-3 draw at 10-man Espanyol in the Spanish league on Sunday. Llorente had not played through the first three rounds after telling his boyhood club he wouldn't renew his contract beyond next summer, adding to Bilbao's tumultuous offseason that saw them lose midfielder Javi Martinez...
10:00 AM, Sep 17, 2012
Madrid: Athletic Bilbao's Spain striker Fernando Llorente has told the La Liga club he does not want to extend his contract beyond the end of the coming season, president Josu Urrutia said on Monday. Urrutia admitted the 27-year-old's decision, which means he will almost certainly leave before the transfer window closes at the end of this month, was a severe blow to the Basque club, who had been hoping to...
08:16 PM, Aug 13, 2012
Bucharest, Romania: Atletico Madrid striker Falcao is assured of a title before the all-Spanish Europa League final against Athletic Bilbao in Bucharest on Wednesday. Falcao shares the competition's scoring lead with 10 goals and is the Europa League's top striker for the second straight season, something no player has achieved before. Having scored 17 times in leading FC Porto to the title last season, the Colombian can win his second...
11:25 AM, May 09, 2012
Barcelona: Atletico Madrid beat Valencia 4-2 while Sporting Lisbon remained undefeated in European home games this season after a 2-1 comeback win over Athletic Bilbao in the first leg of the Europa League semi-finals on Thursday. Atletico dominated fellow Spanish rival Valencia at Vicente Calderon Stadium in one of the 2010 champions' finest performances under coach Diego Simeone that featured Radamel Falcao netting his 31st and 32nd goals of the...
09:04 AM, Apr 20, 2012
Barcelona: Barcelona cut Real Madrid's lead at the top of the Spanish Primera Division back to six points with a professional 2-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao at Camp Nou on Saturday evening. The visitors struggled to make an impact on the match, and looked very fatigued having played just forty-eight hours ago in the Europa League , and the Catalan side took advantage, with goals from Andres Iniesta and Lionel...
03:37 AM, Apr 01, 2012
Barcelona: Cesc Fabregas scored one goal and set up another as Barcelona beat Valencia 2-0 on Wednesday to advance to the Copa del Rey final against Athletic Bilbao. Lionel Messi lobbed a long pass that Fabregas chased down and deftly chipped over goalkeeper Diego Alves for Barcelona's 15th-minute opener. And after Sofiane Feghouli left Valencia with 10 men late on after receiving his second booking, Fabregas set up Xavi Hernandez...
08:15 AM, Feb 09, 2012
Miranda de Ebro: Athletic Bilbao beat Mirandes 2-1 in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final on Tuesday, yet conceded a stoppage-time goal to give the third-tier club some hope ahead of the second leg next week. Mirandes' partisan crowd of 8,000 spectators at Anduva stadium were silenced after 18 minutes when Fernando Llorente read Oscar de Marcos' run to head in the ensuing short cross at the...
08:32 AM, Feb 01, 2012
Madrid: Spanish leaders Real Madrid will be wary of a surging Athletic Bilbao as they look to shake off another disappointing loss to Barcelona and focus on maintaining their five-point lead over the defending champions. Bilbao, who have won three straight and are unbeaten in seven matches, are fifth in the league and in the chase for a European place, maybe even a Champions League spot, under new coach Marcelo...
07:36 PM, Jan 20, 2012
