Sevilla head coach Julen Lopetegui praised his team after beating Athletic Bilbao 1-0 at San Mames Saturday to close the gap with Spanish league leader Real Madrid.

Sevilla pulled to within five points of the pace-setter a day before Madrid faces Atletico Madrid in a derby that the visitor needs to win to keep alive its title defense, and they sit four points clear of Betis in third.

"To win at San Mames has been historically very complicated for Sevilla. I think we have only beat them twice in the last 14 years, so this match has been very complicated. We faced a great team lead by a great manager. They had all week to prepare for the match, while we were landing 48 hours ago after a very complicated few days after and after a huge disappointment." said the Spaniard.