Athletic Bilbao has demonstrated the toughness of its opening LaLiga schedule by having played against four of the seven best-positioned teams in the table when only completed matches are counted. Among the matches that the Bilbao team has had are the matches against Barcelona, Atlético de Madrid, Sevilla and Alavés, all of them classified among the top seven in the competition.
The first match was 1-0-2 in favor of Barça, which had already registered eight victories in the season. Athletic lost in its own stadium, San Mamés, and the result confirmed the rival's superiority in the initial phase. The second match was against Atlético de Madrid, which has also remained at the top of the table. Athletic suffered a 3‑0 defeat, another from which the team was forced to recover in the next match.
Sevilla, which occupies fifth place, was the third rival that Athletic faced. The match was played in the city stadium and Athletic achieved a 1‑3 victory, which gave them an important point in the opening phase. The last of the four teams in the upper zone was Alavés, which occupies seventh place. Athletic achieved a 0-0 draw at their stadium, which allowed them to avoid a defeat and maintain their position in the table.
Athletic has also played against Celta, who is in 14th place, and Elche, who is in 18th place. The Bilbao team won the match against Celta 2-0 in Vigo and drew 1-1 against Elche in their own stadium. The matches that have been postponed are Levante, which is in 17th place, and Rayo Vallecano, which is in 12th place. Levante will be played next Wednesday in Orriols, while Rayo Vallecano will be played in its stadium.
In summary, Athletic has demonstrated the toughness of its opening LaLiga schedule by having played against four of the seven best-positioned teams in the table when only the games already completed are counted. The Bilbao team has suffered defeats against Barcelona and Atlético de Madrid, but has achieved a victory against Sevilla and a draw against Alavés. In addition, the team has won against Celta and drawn against Elche. The matches that have been postponed are Levante and Rayo Vallecano.