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- Real Madrid 4-2 Athletic Club: Arbeloa, Carvajal and Alaba get winning send off
Real Madrid 4-2 Athletic Club: Arbeloa, Carvajal and Alaba get winning send off
In a match full of goodbyes, Real Madrid ended their season with a win as they came out on top in a six-goal thriller with Athletic Club.
Alvaro Arbeloa's tenure at Real Madrid ended with a win as Gonzalo Garcia, Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappe and Brahim Diaz got the goals in a 4-2 win against Athletic Club.
In what was an emotional match at the Estadio Bernabeu, with Dani Carvajal and David Alaba also calling time on their Los Blancos careers, Madrid ensured they finished what has been a disappointing LaLiga campaign with a comfortable victory on Saturday.
Carvajal's 451st and final appearance for Madrid could not have started any better, with the veteran full-back curling a sensational pass into the path of Garcia, who took a touch before opening the scoring in the 12th minute.
The hosts then doubled their lead four minutes before half-time through Bellingham, who crashed a left-footed volley past Alex Padilla following Thiago Pitarch's lofted pick out.
However, Athletic hit back in first-half stoppage time in some style, with Gorka Guruzeta brilliantly firing Inaki Williams' cross into the bottom-left corner with a first-time finish.
But Madrid restored their two-goal cushion six minutes after the restart when Mbappe collected Alvaro Carreras' pass before cutting inside and finding the bottom-right corner.
Arbeloa's side continued to push for a fourth goal, with Mbappe thwarted at the near post by Padilla just moments after the visiting goalkeeper had made a fine stop with his chest to repel Bellingham's stinging strike from the edge of the box.
The home fans were on their feet when Alaba was substituted in the 70th minute before Carvajal received a guard of honour from both sets of players after being replaced late on, but there was still time for two more goals as Brahim's 88th-minute finish was followed up by Urko Izeta's header in second-half stoppage time.
Data Debrief: Mbappe helps give Madrid trio a fitting farewell
After Arbeloa announced ahead of kick-off he would not take charge of Madrid next season, it was one of his standout performers in Mbappe who gave not only him, but also Carvajal and Alaba a goodbye they deserved.
Mbappe's strike took him to 49 goal involvements in 47 appearances across competitions this season (43 goals, six assists), one more than he managed last campaign (48), while he also finished with team-high totals for shots (five) and touches in the opposition box (nine).
The result also ensured that Madrid extended their best unbeaten home streak against Athletic to 21 matches (W18 D3), which is their best such stretch in LaLiga, and they were deserving of their victory here.
Madrid finished with an expected goals (xG) total of 1.85 from their 13 shots, five of which were on target, compared to Athletic's 0.86 from their eight attempts in what was Ernesto Valverde's final game at the helm.












