Jude Bellingham is getting ready to play for Real Madrid against Athletic Bilbao this weekend. He missed the last two matches because of a red-card suspension. He also had an ankle injury that kept him out of four of Madrid’s last six games.
Despite not scoring for Madrid in the past six weeks, Bellingham is still leading the Spanish league with 16 goals since joining from Borussia Dortmund.
However, the competition is getting closer. Ante Budimir from Osasuna and Borja Mayoral from Getafe, who is currently injured, have 15 goals each. Álvaro Morata from Atlético Madrid and Artem Dovbyk from Girona both have 14 goals.
Bellingham’s suspension came after he complained when his goal was disallowed after the final whistle in a draw against Valencia. He scored his 22nd goal of the season for club and country on Tuesday in England’s 2-2 draw against Belgium.
While Madrid will have Bellingham back, they will be missing Vinícius Júnior due to a one-game suspension for accumulating five yellow cards.
Madrid is leading the table by eight points over Barcelona as both teams focus on their upcoming Champions League quarterfinals against Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain.
Carlo Ancelotti’s team has only lost once in 29 league games and is on a 12-game undefeated streak across all competitions. With Madrid looking strong in their bid for the Liga title, the real competition is for the Champions League spots.
Athletic Bilbao, known for fielding players from or near Spain’s Basque Country region, is currently holding onto the fourth spot for the Champions League next season.
Led by Iñaki and Nico Williams, Athletic faces a tough challenge when they play at Santiago Bernabeu. Athletic hasn’t won a league game at Madrid since 2005, but they managed a 1-1 draw there last season.
Athletic has an important Copa del Rey final against Mallorca on April 6. They have won the cup 23 times, second only to Barcelona’s 31 titles, but their last win was in 1984.
Atlético Madrid is in fifth place, one point behind Athletic, before their match against Villarreal on Monday.
Barcelona will host Las Palmas on Saturday, with Las Palmas being coached by former Barcelona reserve team coach Javier García Pimienta. Girona, in third place, hosts Real Betis on Sunday. They have stumbled with four losses in the last six rounds, sitting two points behind Barcelona.
