Real Madrid cannot mourn their failure in Europe for long after being eliminated by Arsenal in the Champions League quarter-finals, because they must refocus on facing a tough challenge at Athletic Bilbao's home ground in the Spanish League match.
Athletic will travel to the Santiago Bernabeu for the match. For the record, Real fans in the stadium will probably be furious with their beloved team after the reigning La Liga champions failed to continue their struggle on the European stage.
Real fans had been very confident in Los Blancos ' ability to turn things around against Arsenal on Thursday (17/4), but instead of winning they were thrashed 2-1 by the Gunners which gave the Londoners a 5-1 aggregate win.
France star Kylian Mbappe will not face the roar of the crowd after he was sent off last weekend. Mbappe also suffered an ankle injury against Arsenal.
On the other hand, Vinicius Jr will probably be in the spotlight even though he is the only Real player to score against Arsenal in the two legs of the Champions League quarter-finals.
The Brazilian has failed to show his best ability this season. Likewise, coach Carlo Ancelotti has struggled to combine Vinicius with Mbappe in the front line.
Although Real are not in optimal form, they are only four points behind the top of the Spanish League standings, Barcelona, who will host Celta Vigo on Saturday (19/4) evening.
The Catalans suffered their first defeat of the year in midweek, going down 3-1 to Borussia Dortmund, but Barca still qualified for the Champions League semi-finals.