New Delhi: 

Real Madrid were left frustrated throughout the clash as Athletic didn’t bring any loose game to them, but Valverde was able to salvage a victory for the home side, leading their fans into a frenzy. It looked almost imminent that the Blancos were settling for a point due to an utterly disappointing performance in the forward areas, but Valverde’s goal, which was a half-volley and another fine strike in his shining catalogue, was enough to keep Madrid in the title race.

Real Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde claimed limelight as he blasted home a stoppage-time winner to hand Los Blancos a thrilling 1-0 win over Athletic Bilbao in their La Liga clash at the Santiago Bernabéu on Sunday. Once again, Carlo Ancelotti’s side needed late heroics to keep their title defence alive and stay in the race with leaders Barcelona, being only four points short of them on the table.

In the first half, Ancelotti’s side was remarkably poor, and overall, it took them nearly 50 minutes to create a good scoring chance. Eduardo Camavinga had a chance as he saw a shot denied by Unai Simón after a counter-attack. It was Jude Bellingham going close on the hour mark as he got to the end of a trivela pass from Vinicius Jr. and forced a clever save.

Vinicius though he had sealed the deal for the Blancos with 10 minutes remaining after a near-post finish but his clever strike was ruled out by the referee as substitute Endrick was found offside in the build-up. Bellingham too had a golden opportunity to eke out a winner at death but hit the bar after a clever touch in the box.

Nevertheless, it all waited for Valverde to provide the big moment as he lashed in a volley into the top corner in the 93rd minute of the clash to keep Real Madrid within four points of table-toppers Barcelona. A crucial El Clásico is yet to come before the end of the campaign, on May 11.

Novak Djokovic’s reaction goes viral

As it turned out, Serbian tennis star and 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic was also spotted in the stands at Santiago Bernabeu. He was there with his kids and saw the miraculous late winner from Federico in the injury time after a dull 90-minute affair. As soon as the ball hit the back of the net, Djokovic jumped off his seat, in total disbelief, and his reaction instantly went viral on the internet. Watch Djokovic’s reaction to Valverde’s winn

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