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Alvarez has scored 21 goals in 40 appearances for Atletico Madrid Julian Alvarez scored his 10th league goal of the season to help Atletico Madrid beat Athletic Club and move top of La Liga. The former Manchester City forward ran on to a superb defence-splitting ball by Marcos Llorente before calmly slotting in to break the deadlock in the 66th minute. Athletic Club came agonisingly close to an equaliser when Benat Prados headed against the post and Inaki Williams crashed the rebound off the underside of the crossbar. Diego Simeone's Atletico knew a win over the Bilbao side would see them jump above both Barcelona and Real Madrid, who lost to Real Betis earlier on Saturday. However, their two-point lead could be short-lived, with second-placed Barcelona playing their game in hand against Real Sociedad on Sunday. Atletico will hope they can rub more salt in the wounds of city rivals Real Madrid when they face each other in the first leg Champions League last 16 on Tuesday. Comments can not be loaded To load Comments you need to enable Java Script in your browser Last Updated 1st March 2025 at 21: 52 Please Note: All times UK. Tables are subject to change. The BBC is not responsible for any changes that may be made. Manager: Diego Simeone Formation: 4 - 4 - 2 Manager: Ernesto Valverde Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 Manager: Diego Simeone Formation: 4 - 4 - 2 Manager: Ernesto Valverde Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 Try our advanced match stats, including in-depth attacking and defensive stats Spanish La Liga All competitions All competitions All competitions Match ends, Atletico Madrid 1, Athletic Club 0. Second Half ends, Atletico Madrid 1, Athletic Club 0. Foul by Javi Galán (Atletico Madrid). Nico Williams (Athletic Club) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Clément Lenglet (Atletico Madrid) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Foul by Maroan Sannadi (Athletic Club). Fourth official has announced 4 minutes of added time. Attempt missed. Gorka Guruzeta (Athletic Club) left footed shot from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Yuri Berchiche with a cross. Attempt saved. Julián Alvarez (Atletico Madrid) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Yeray Álvarez (Athletic Club) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul. Julián Alvarez (Atletico Madrid) wins a free kick in the attacking half. Foul by Yeray Álvarez (Athletic Club). Offside, Atletico Madrid. Ángel Correa is caught offside. Attempt blocked. Iñaki Williams (Athletic Club) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Nico Williams. Substitution, Athletic Club. Mikel Vesga replaces Mikel Jauregizar. Foul by Conor Gallagher (Atletico Madrid). Iñaki Williams (Athletic Club) wins a free kick in the attacking half. Substitution, Athletic Club. Óscar De Marcos replaces Andoni Gorosabel. Substitution, Athletic Club. Maroan Sannadi replaces Alex Berenguer. Attempt missed. Beñat Prados (Athletic Club) left footed shot from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Alex Berenguer with a cross. Copyright © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.