Athletic Club vs Real Madrid: San Mamés Turns Up The Heat On Xabi Alonso

Real Madrid roll into San Mamés needing more than just three points – they need a reset. Three straight league draws have let Barcelona pull clear at the top, and suddenly Xabi Alonso’s first season as Madrid’s manager feels a lot more fragile than it did a month ago.

For Alonso, the context around his future adds another layer to this game. He made his name just down the road at Real Sociedad, captaining La Real and starring in derbies against Athletic – this region is where his whole story really started. Now he returns as Real Madrid coach under real scrutiny, with growing doubts about his team’s style of play and a sense among some fans that a bad result could ‘complicate his situation’ even more.

History Of The Matchup

Few fixtures capture Spanish football’s traditional heavyweight vs proud challenger vibe quite like Athletic vs Real Madrid. Across 248 meetings in all competitions, Madrid have 124 wins, Athletic 79, with 45 draws in between – a gap that underlines how often Los Blancos have found a way to tilt tight games their way.

Recent history has been a little kinder to the hosts. Athletic’s 2–1 win over Madrid at San Mamés last season was their first league victory over them since 2015, snapping a run in which Madrid routinely controlled the head-to-head. Madrid did hit back later in the campaign with a 1–0 win at the Bernabéu, but the sense that San Mamés can still unsettle them never really went away.

Over the last five meetings in all competitions, Madrid have three wins, Athletic one, and one draw – pure scoreboard advantage to Alonso’s side, but with just enough recent problems for them to treat this trip as something more than a routine away day.

Season So Far

Athletic Club – 8th in La Liga

Athletic’s season has swung between encouraging and exasperating. They sit eighth with 20 points from 14 matches – close enough to the European mix, but also one bad week away from dropping into mid-table traffic.

The most recent run sums them up: a humbling 4–0 defeat away to Barcelona, a narrow 1–0 home win over Real Oviedo, a flat 2–0 loss at Newcastle in the Champions League, then the clean, controlled 2–0 victory at Levante that finally put a smile back on faces. The basic pattern: competitive at home, streaky away, and still searching for a consistent cutting edge in the final third.

Injuries and suspensions haven’t helped. Oihan Sancet is banned, and IñakiWilliams has been struggling with a groin problem that has kept him out of recent games. The upside is the expected return of Aymeric Laporte after illness, giving Athletic more security at the back on a night when they’ll need to be at their best.

Real Madrid – 2nd in La Liga

On paper, Madrid are fine: second in La Liga, one point behind Barcelona, unbeaten in the Champions League league phase and boasting the division’s most terrifying front line. In reality, the last few weeks have been messy.

In La Liga, a 4–0 home demolition of Valencia seemed to announce Madrid as clear favourites. Since then, they’ve failed to win three straight league games: 0–0 at Rayo Vallecano, 2–2 at Elche, and 1–1 at Girona, the most recent of which saw them claw back a point only after falling behind again.

Europe has been more forgiving – Kylian Mbappé scored four times in a wild 4–3 win away to Olympiacos – but even there, Madrid have looked more chaotic than clinical, with a 1–0 defeat at Liverpool showing how vulnerable their structure can be against elite opposition.

The bigger concern is mood. Alonso is barely half a season into the job after replacing Carlo Ancelotti in the summer, yet talk of “poor fit” and public questions over the team’s identity have already appeared in Spanish and international coverage. Pieces on Rodrygo’s historic goal drought and speculation over Vinícius Jr’s future have only added noise around a squad that suddenly feels less settled than its talent suggests.

Recent Form

Athletic Club – Recent Matches

Date	Vs	Score	Comp
29 Nov	Levante (A)	2–0 W	La Liga
25 Nov	Slavia Prague (A)	0–0 D	UCL
22 Nov	Barcelona (A)	0–4 L	La Liga
9 Nov	Real Oviedo (H)	1–0 W	La Liga
5 Nov	Newcastle (A)	0–2 L	UCL

Real Madrid – Recent Matches

Date	Vs	Score	Comp
30 Nov	Girona (A)	1–1 D	La Liga
26 Nov	Olympiacos (A)	4–3 W	UCL
23 Nov	Elche (A)	2–2 D	La Liga
9 Nov	Rayo Vallecano (A)	0–0 D	La Liga
4 Nov	Liverpool (A)	0–1 L	UCL

Key Players To Watch

Athletic Club

Nico Williams
Still the most explosive attacking outlet Athletic have. His pace and direct dribbling are the quickest way for Valverde’s side to turn defence into danger, and he comes into this game after talking openly about how much the club and city mean to him amid fresh transfer rumours. If Madrid leaves him 1v1 in transition, he has the tools to punish them.

Aymeric Laporte
Assuming he’s fully over the illness that kept him out at Levante, Laporte’s return would be huge. His left foot sets the tone for Athletic’s build-up, and his aerial presence is vital against Mbappé and Vinícius when Madrid swing crosses in. If he can control the box and help keep Madrid’s stars facing away from goal, Athletic’s chances rise sharply.

Selton Sánchez
Selton Sánchez is still raw at this level, but he gives Athletic something different in the final third. At just 18 years old, he doesn’t need many touches to be dangerous. In a game where much of the attention will be on Nico Williams, Selton’s job is to quietly exploit the gaps that attention creates, especially on the counter when Madrid’s full-backs push high.

Real Madrid

Kylian Mbappé
Top scorer in La Liga and in all competitions for Madrid this season, Mbappé remains the ultimate swing factor. He just scored four away at Olympiacos and rescued Madrid at Girona with another pressure penalty. If Alonso’s side can spring him into space between Athletic’s full-backs and centre-backs, one moment might be enough.

Jude Bellingham
When Madrid’s midfield looks disconnected, Bellingham is usually the one who stitches it back together. He pops up everywhere: breaking lines with late runs, connecting play around the box, and still chipping in with crucial goals like the late equaliser at Elche. In a loud, frantic game, his ability to stay composed between the lines will be critical.

Vinícius Júnior
All the focus will naturally fall on Mbappé, but San Mamés is exactly the kind of night where Vinícius can tilt a big away game. His duels with the Athletic full-back on that left side will set the tone for Madrid’s attack – if he starts winning 1v1s, it opens up space for Bellingham between the lines and for Mbappé to attack the box. On top of that, every time Madrid have looked flat this season, it’s often been a burst from Vinícius that has jolted them to life.

Likely Starting XIs

Athletic Club (4-2-3-1)

Unai Simón;
Gorosabel, Laporte, Vivian, Berchiche;
Iñigo Ruiz de Galarreta, Jauregizar;
Berenguer, Sánchez, Nico Williams;
Unai Gomez

Real Madrid (4-3-1-2)

Courtois;
Trent Alexander-Arnold, Militão, Rüdiger, Carreras;
Valverde, Bellingham, Tchouaméni;
Güler, Mbappé, Vinícius Jr

Xabi Alonso: Already In The Firing Line?

For Xabi Alonso, this isn’t just another away fixture – it’s a return to the region where his whole career took off. He grew up at Real Sociedad, captained them as a teenager and led La Real to a famous 2002–03 runners-up finish, becoming a central figure in the Basque derby on the other side of this rivalry.

Now he returns as Real Madrid’s head coach under a very different kind of spotlight. Since taking over in June 2025 after his title-winning spell at Bayer Leverkusen, Alonso has been praised as an elite young manager. Still, recent results – three league games without a win and disjointed performances – have triggered real questions about whether he is the right fit at Madrid and whether they are actually moving in the right direction.

Layered on top is the Vinícius situation. Multiple reports in the last fortnight say Vinícius Júnior has paused contract talks because of a strained relationship with Alonso, with suggestions of a split in the dressing room over whose side to take. Fede Valverde has gone public, insisting “we are more united than ever,” but the fact that those messages are needed at all shows how loud the speculation has become.

Put that together and tonight has an almost circular feel: Alonso, the former Real Sociedad captain, walks into San Mamés as Real Madrid coach with his team underperforming, his relationship with one of his biggest stars under scrutiny, and the Basque press openly debating how secure his job really is. A big win here would buy him time and authority; another flat display, especially if Vinícius looks frustrated again, will only fuel the sense that his dream job is drifting towards a full-blown crisis in the very part of Spain where his story started.