Football
Adriana Garcia 7y

Athletic Bilbao will extend unbeaten streak vs. Real Madrid - Benat

Athletic Bilbao midfielder Benat believes his team will stretch their long unbeaten run at home in all competitions to 20 games on Saturday when they host La Liga leaders Real Madrid.

The Basque outfit's last defeat at the San Mames stadium in the league was a 1-0 loss to Barcelona in their first home game of the season on Aug. 28.

They have won 16 times in the unbeaten stretch and will seek a fifth home triumph in a row in La Liga when they take on Madrid.

"We want to stretch our good run of form at home," Benat said on his club's website. "We need to continue to do what we are doing and we will give something extra because we will play against Real Madrid. This is an important game for us.

"We are very well and what we have to do is take advantage of the confidence we have in order to put them under pressure and take three points."

Athletic have clinched 33 of their 44 points at the San Mames stadium and they also showed good form on the road on Sunday in their last La Liga contest, snapping a four-game losing streak away from home in all competitions with a 2-0 triumph at Real Sociedad.

The result in San Sebastian lifted Ernesto Valverde's Athletic to seventh in the standings.

"The team is in good shape and we have a lot of confidence after winning the derby," Benat said. "We had a good game and we are really motivated to beat Real Madrid. Our idea is always to go out and win.

"It would be fantastic to go into the international break by beating Madrid.

"That would allow us to remain in touch with the high positions in the table, those that every team wants to be fighting for."

Real Madrid will have their star-studded attack of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale available again.

Bale missed Real's last two league games through suspension.

"It doesn't matter who plays because they are all great players," Benat said. "The important thing is that we prevent them from playing their game and that we play ours."

Athletic must keep a close eye on Real captain Sergio Ramos, especially on set pieces.

In Real's 3-1 win at Napoli last Tuesday, Ramos twice rose to meet Toni Kroos' corners and ensured his team would progress to the quarterfinals of the Champions League.

The Spanish veteran defender then headed the winner in a 2-1 home triumph over Real Betis on Sunday, a result that helped Real Madrid overtake Barcelona at the top of the standings.

"Ramos is on a roll," Benat said. "We will be on guard but we cannot only focus on him [Ramos] but on everyone as Real have great players."

An Alvaro Morata goal gave Real a 2-1 home win against Athletic earlier this season.

It will be a bigger challenge for Athletic with experienced defender Mikel San Jose serving a one-match ban this weekend.

"It's an important loss for us but we have players that can replace him," the 30-year-old Benat said.  Athletic, meanwhile, received good news after scans done on their goalkeeper Alex Remiro revealed no traumatic injuries, the club said.

The 21-year-old spent the night in hospital under observation after being hit in the face by a ball in training on Wednesday. Remiro, who is Athletic's third-choice keeper, tweeted: "Thank you to everyone for your messages of support. I will soon be fighting back on the pitch."

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