Real Madrid Still Keeps The La Liga Champion Asa

Real Madrid are still stuck with Barcelona in the La Liga title hunt (Instagram/@realmadrid).

Federico Valverde scored an incredible late volley to secure Real Madrid's home win over Athletic Bilbao 1-0 on Monday, April 21, 2025, which kept them four points adrift of La Liga leaders Barcelona.

Athletic, who rotated a lot, managed to hold the hosts until Valverde scored a winning goal three minutes into injury time, taking advantage of a sweep to release a volley into the top corner of the net.

Talking about the goal, it turned out that the slick kick was the result of Valverde's practice.

"Fede had a very unusual shot, a very good shot. Yesterday in practice, he kicked the ball that looked wide, then suddenly rotated and you thought, how did he kick it? His shot was very sharp, fast, and strong."

"In training, he easily did one or two such kicks a week. We've been telling him for years, shooting and shooting," said Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.

Vinicius Junior thought he had given Los Blancos a low-kick, but a shot in the 79th minute was ruled out by VAR for offside Endrick in the process of a goal.

Real Madrid bounced back after being knocked out in the midweek Champions League at Arsenal's hands to gain 69 points, six points ahead of Atletico Madrid who are in third place, who suffered a surprise 0-1 defeat at the Las Palmas on Saturday, 19 April 2025.

After the first half which was nothing important, Jude Bellingham had a chance to score Real Madrid's first goal with a close header, but goalkeeper Unai Simon made a brilliant save in the 60th minute to keep the score even.

Meanwhile, having just reached the Europa League semi-finals, Athletic remained disciplined in defending, frustrated Real Madrid for most of the game, but failed to create their own goal-scoring chances.

Athletic's resistance finally broke out and a last-minute defeat left them in fourth place in the standings with 57 points.

Apart from that match, Real Madrid will travel to Getafe headquarters on April 24, 2025, before undergoing El Clasico against Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final on Sunday, April 27, 2025.

This means that Los Blancos still have two hopes, namely La Liga and Copa del Rey titles.