Athletic Club Bilbao ended its 125th anniversary year with a solo concert against Atlético Madrid, which showed its worst side and fell prey to the Lions, where Nico Williams was king. The youngest of the Williamses led the local victory with a superb goal, a penalty and countless tackles that drove the Diego Pablo Simeone-coached side crazy.

Biscay golfer Jon Rahm, recently signed with the Saudi team, starred in the opening tee in Jose Angel Iribar’s black jersey to kick off the subsequent local exhibition. The first, and very clear, chance was Gorka Guruzeta’s right-footed low shot in the 5th minute, which Jan Oblak skillfully parried away.

Eight minutes later came a second booking as Ander Herrera’s strike from the top of the penalty area once again tested the Slovenian goalkeeper’s reflexes. In the 12th minute, following an error by Axel Witsel when releasing the ball, Iñaki Williams came close to scoring, hitting the post with a low shot.

The team, coached by Diego Pablo Simeone, were unable to stop their opponents or connect with their starting strikers Alvaro Morata and Antoine Griezmann. The “Little Prince” did not appear until a quarter of an hour later, with a long left-footed free-kick that Unai Simon failed to catch, although one of his team-mates quickly cleared the ball.

Oyhan Sunset added some attacking courage to the Lions in the 19th minute with a right-footed shot and a nice ankle gesture. Oblak stopped, but barely managed to cope, as three minutes later he prevented Nico Williams’ right hand from becoming the goal with his chest.

Coljonero’s team attacked again only in the first half when, after half an hour, Griezmann struck with his left foot on a counter-attack, but Unai Simon had no problem saving the shot. From that moment until the break, Athletic gave their opponents a “bath”, although they did not score.

In the 35th minute, Iñaki Williams played a long pass on the right flank to his brother Nico, who went into the mattress area; There he clipped Turkish centre-back Caglar Soyuncu, who was making his debut under “Cholo” Simeone and blocked Athletic’s 11. Referee Jesus Gil Manzano didn’t hesitate to call a penalty, but Sunset missed it.

Trying to adjust his shot into the top nine, Sunset sent the ball into the stands. However, San Mames responded with encouraging applause for their midfielder, who came close to correcting his mistake with a good strike on the last chance of the first half. The day before, Saul Niguez blocked another dangerous shot from Iñaki Williams.

In those final minutes before heading to the dressing room, little Williams also made it 1-0 with a right-footed shot against the post after a superb turn in the box. The game showcased Atlético’s terrible defense as they miraculously went into the interval with the score 0-0.

There was no reaction from the bench

Simeone, with his substitutions, involuntarily pointed to Nahuel Molina and Soyuncu, Josema Jimenez and Rodrigo de Paul entered the field. But the “damn” continued, and this was evident when they conceded the first goal. On a corner that went nowhere, Iñaki Williams cleared the ball at the other end and passed it back to Ander Herrera, who crossed to the far post.

The ball, sweet and with just the right amount of force, sailed over the heads of six Atlético players and Guruseta pushed through the net with his right boot, despite Oblak’s passivity. He then broke through the visitors’ wall, which up to that point had resisted thanks to the usual skill of his goalkeeper. But even the Slovenian could not avoid Nico Williams’ superb goal to make it 2-0 in the 64th minute.

Iñigo Lecue played long and low on the right flank to the Lions’ number 11, who controlled the ball and pushed forward while two opponents overtook him. Witsel and Hermoso gave him space, which Nico took advantage of with a powerful left-footed shot that beat Oblak over the top and sent the ball into the top corner.

Simeone then sent off the inactive Morata along with his entire squad and introduced Cesar Azpilicueta to warn of his surrender. On the opposite bench, Ernesto Valverde has not yet signed a truce, and his players are looking for a third. In the 67th minute, Iñaki Williams put Oblak in trouble with a left-footed shot that was saved for a corner by the goalkeeper.

The turnover rate in the game dropped after a short-term injury to Yuri Berchish and Valverde’s first substitution gave Mikel Vesga confidence. And this caused a certain relaxation, which Madrid took advantage of to attack something. First it was Marcos Llorente’s cross kick from the right, and then Samu Lino’s left foot into the net.

Llorente himself had a chance to score in the 83rd minute with a low left-foot shot from Azpilicueta’s pass; However, Unai Simon prevented this action and reassured Athletic by doing his homework. Their victory moved the Bilbao team into fifth place in the league with 32 points; At the same time, Atlético was left with 34 points (and one game less).