Real Madrid starts life without Karim Benzema on Saturday with a potentially tricky away game against Athletic Bilbao.
Bookmaker William Hill offers odds at 1.73 for Real to open the scoring at San Mames. The odds are at 2.20 for the hosts to net the first goal and at 11.00 for no goals to be scored.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: August 11th, 10:00 A.M. (EST)
With Benzema moving to Saudi Arabia, Real has lost a huge goal threat and there’s trouble in the defense as well ahead of the season opener after Thibaut Courtois suffered an ACL injury. The Belgian has been a rock at the back for Real for several years and it’s going to be very difficult to replace him.
Ferland Mendy, Dani Ceballos, and summer signing Arda Guler also won’t be available on Saturday. The latter is bothered by a knee problem and it might take a while until the Turkish wonder-kid is ready for action for his new club.
However, it’s not all doom and gloom for Real. Los Blancos pulled off one of the biggest summer signings of the year by winning the race for Jude Bellingham’s signature. The English star should relish the chance to play on a bigger stage and will be looking to make a mark in a new league straight away.
Athletic has avoided major changes over the summer and will enter the action with a fairly familiar lineup, although the loss of Inigo Martinez to Barcelona is a bit of a blow for the defense. It might take a bit of time until the new-look defensive unit feels comfortable working together.
The Lions will be desperate to get off to a good start after blowing their chance of reaching the Champions League late last season. Ernesto Valverde’s men won only one of their last eight league games, losing five of them. Although, interestingly, the run of results included a 1-1 draw with Real at Santiago Bernabeu.
The side from Bilbao isn’t used to getting results against Real. Before battling out the 1-1 draw in the final round of 2022-23, Athletic had suffered seven consecutive league defeats in the match-up, and it’s been eight years since the team’s last La Liga victory over Real. In fact, a 1-0 triumph that came in 2015 via an Aritz Aduriz strike is one of only two league wins Athletic has managed versus Real in 18 seasons.
