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2020-21 Spanish LaLiga
Matchday 16
Athletic Bilbao vs Real Sociedad
San Mames Barria
Bilbao, Spain
Thursday, 31 December 2020
Kick-off is at 15h00
Athletic Bilbao will face off with Basque rivals Real Sociedad in a Spanish LaLiga match at San Mames Barria on December 31.
This will be the 50th meeting between Bilbao and Sociedad across all competitions since 1994.
Sociedad hold a slight edge in this rivalry since the aforementioned date as they have recorded 16 wins compared to Bilbao's 15 victories, while 18 games ended in a draw.
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The last meeting between the two teams in the league was on 9 February 2020. Sociedad emerged 2-1 winners over Bilbao in a match which was played at the Reale Arena.
Bilbao brushed aside Huesca 2-0 in their last home game in the league which took place on December 18. It was the Lions' fourth win in their last five home games in LaLiga, while the other match ended in a defeat to Celta Vigo.
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Gaizka Garitano, the Bilbao manager, was pleased to see his troops overcome fatigue to defeat Huesca in build-up to a tough run of fixtures.
“The first half was difficult for us, but we came out much better in the second and finished the match off well," Garitano said.
“We’ve had three matches in six days, and maybe we were lacking a bit of freshness.
“But we knew that we had to win and we did. I’m happy for the boys, they’ve done a great job.”
Meanwhile, Sociedad suffered a 2-1 defeat to Levante in their last away match in the league which was played on December 19. The defeat extended the White and Blues' winless run to three matches on the road having registered two successive defeats and one draw.
Head-to-head statistics (Last five LaLiga matches):
Bilbao wins: 1
Sociedad wins: 4
Draws: 0
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