Athletic Bilbao vs. Atletico Madrid: Team News, Preview, Live Stream, TV Info

Atletico Madrid have carved the title race wide open again in La Liga after making the most of Barcelona’s recent slip-ups to close the gap at the top entirely. The next step for Atleti is perhaps their toughest remaining fixture: away to Athletic Club, with the San Mames outfit in good form themselves and intent on securing a European spot of their own.

Games between these two are often entertaining and goal-laden; only one of the last 12 Liga meetings has seen less than two goals scored, and there have been 26 scored in the last nine league games. This one has little reason to be different.

Atleti striker Fernando Torres is focused on this fixture rather than the title challenge, per FourFourTwo: “Take one step at a time. The Champions League is far away, so now we have to get the three points in Bilbao. I do not look beyond that. We are excited and enjoying a very nice period, but we do not settle for what we have achieved.”

It’s a line mirrored by all at the club and championed by manager Diego Simeone, almost without fail, every week.

. @Simeone: “As I always say, the most important and decisive match is the one tomorrow.” #AthleticAtleti #GoAtleti pic.twitter.com/uIOM0pqmJe

— Atleti English (@atletienglish) April 19, 2016

The desire to win this game is the same on both sides. Ander Iturraspe’s return to the side and to form saw the Athletic midfielder showcasing both his loyalty and his hopes for victory in the upcoming game, as he spoke in the pregame press conference, per Athletic Club’s official Twitter feed (in Spanish).

Iturraspe suggested he wanted to remain at the club his entire career, that he was extremely happy with his team-mates and the ambition of the side and noted that his team needed the points to continue their push for Europe.

Athletic are perhaps in the overall less-pressurised position, especially due to their win over Malaga last time out. They have room for manoeuvre in trying to attain a top-six finish, but for Atletico the opposite is true.

It’s likely they will need a perfect end to the season, not just to overhaul Barca at the top but also to hold off Real Madrid, who’s just one point back in third. A huge upcoming few weeks awaits, but as Torres and Simeone noted, the most important match is the next one.

Date: Wednesday, April 20

Time: 7:45 p.m. BST / 2:45 …

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