Real Madrid hosted Athletic Club at the Santiago Bernabéu on the 38th and final matchday of La Liga, and Dani Carvajal was set to play what the club presented as his last game in front of Bernabéu fans.
The club announced its official lineup to face Athletic Club at 9:00 pm CEST, confirming Thibaut Courtois in goal alongside a back line of Carvajal, Asencio, David Alaba and Á. Carreras. The midfield and attack read Federico Valverde, Jude Bellingham, Thiago, Mastantuono, Gonzalo and Kylian Mbappé. Real’s bench included Lunin, Álvaro, Camavinga, Tchouameni, Arda Güler, Ceballos, Fran García, Brahim, Rüdiger, Huijsen and Manu Serrano.
The match arrived with a few telling numbers. Courtois had recorded three clean sheets in Real Madrid’s last four matches, and the club had gone into the fixture on the back of wins over Real Oviedo and Sevilla. Athletic Club arrived sitting 12th in the standings and had managed two victories in its last eight matches, according to the pregame assessments.
Predicted lineups published before the official announcement showed a slightly different look: Real Madrid’s predicted XI listed Courtois, Carvajal, Asencio, Alaba, Carreras, Camavinga, Valverde, Bellingham, Brahim, Gonzalo and Mbappé, while Athletic Bilbao’s predicted XI was Simón, Gorosabel, Vivian, Paredes, Lekue, Jauregizar, Rego, Gomez, Iñaki, Navarro and Guruzeta. Those earlier guesses underscored the selection choices the manager ultimately had to make for a match that closes the season.
Context sharpened what was at stake beyond a single game. Outside outlets described Real Madrid’s season as turbulent, noting the club had failed to hoist a major trophy in back-to-back seasons. Those assessments also flagged the match as a possible final appearance — for Carvajal, for Alaba, who is leaving the club this summer, and for manager Álvaro Arbeloa — as the club and supporters confronted a season-ending reckoning.
The tension before kickoff centered on two practical gaps. Vinicius had missed the last two training sessions due to personal reasons and was not expected to feature in the match, a hole in Real’s usual attacking shape. And the official starting XI differed from the widely circulated predicted XI: Camavinga and Brahim, forecast as starters, were named among the substitutes while Thiago and Mastantuono took starting roles, a switch that suggested either a tactical tweak or last-minute adjustments by the coach.
Those choices left the closing chapter of the season squarely on the pitch and on the players who will remain. Alaba’s summer departure is confirmed for this year, and Carvajal’s Bernabéu farewell — if it is his last home appearance — will be the most visible sign of turnover at a club that, by number and narrative, has more questions than answers this evening. The most consequential question after the whistle will not be the scoreline but whether the squad that finished with Courtois’s recent shutouts and back-to-back wins is the foundation Real Madrid’s leadership believes can reverse a two-season trophy drought.
