Atlético Madrid are heading to Bilbao this weekend for a La Liga meeting with Athletic Club, and the immediate question is whether they can turn another strong head-to-head into points in the fourth round. Diego Simeone’s side have won six of their last 10 meetings with Athletic Club, and they arrive after a 3-1 victory over Sevilla last weekend that kept their early run moving in the right direction.
That record is exactly why Athletic Bilbao Vs Atlético Madrid standings has become a search point now: the clubs meet at a stage of the season when small margins already shape the table. Atlético Madrid beat Athletic Club 3-1 in April, with Antoine Griezmann and Alexander Sørloth on the scoresheet, and they will try to repeat that result while chasing successive away wins. For Athletic Club, the picture is less stable. Under Edin Terzić, they have one win in three matches, which makes the home game harder to frame as a simple response to last week’s 2-0 away win over Celta Vigo, where Unai Simón kept a clean sheet.
The contrast in Athletic Club’s recent results is the sharpest part of the matchup. They shut out Celta Vigo, but they also conceded five goals in defeats to Sevilla and Barcelona, a spread that shows both resilience and vulnerability in the same opening stretch. That is where Atlético Madrid’s recent edge matters most: they have already shown they can break Athletic Club down, and they have done it with enough consistency to make the April result feel less like a one-off than part of a pattern.
Atlético Madrid also arrive with more squad movement behind them than usual for this stage of a campaign. They brought in Jonathan David on loan from Juventus before the transfer deadline, took their total to five new players in the summer window, and sent Josema Giménez on loan to Deportivo de A Coruña. Julian Alvarez is the most watched name in the build-up. He decided to stay at Atlético Madrid after transfer drama, is back in team training, and will be in the squad against Athletic Club. That does not guarantee a start, but it does close the door on the uncertainty that had surrounded him.
Marcos Llorente added another layer to the week by saying he will retire from international play for Spain and focus fully on his club career. For Atlético Madrid, though, the immediate issue is simpler. They need another away result, and they know the standings can shift quickly in a fourth-round game that already carries the feel of a measuring point. If Simeone’s side leave Bilbao with a result, the early table will reflect more than form; it will reflect control over a matchup they have handled better than Athletic Club over the last stretch.
