The Spanish Super Cup is over and with that it’s La Liga match time between Real Madrid and athletic Bilbao.

After their match against Barcelona ended in bad blood and with their coach Mourinho at the epicentre, Real Madrid will be keen to put the unpleasant memories of Wednesday’s game behind them, and get on with the business at hand.

But Mourinho’s men are nothing if not tough competitors and Barcelona can expect a fight on their hands as Real Madrid get set for a long La Liga season. And they will begin with a derby match against traditional rivals. In their La Liga opener on Sunday, Jose Mourinho’s wards will take on Basque side Athletic Bilbao. Athletic will want to take advantage of any disharmony in Madrid’s ranks resulting as a fall out of the Spanish super Cup fiasco. Athletic Bilbao would be fortunate to take any points from Mourinho’s wards but three points would be cause for prolonged celebration against their hated rivals.

There have been few changes at Los leones although it could be argued that coach Cparo was a major change as was the signing of Zaragoza’s promising midfielder Ander Herrera.

In contrast, critics may argue that their rivals made a lot of changes that were effectively useless by bringing many new players to the squad, such as Callejón, Varane, Coentrão, Sahin, and Altintop.

Most of these players are good in their own right but what are they doing in a team in which there are at least two players ahead of them for every position. Most of them may end up spending the bulk of the season on the bench.

These two teams have a rivalry that extends beyond football and that should make for a gripping enocounter with emotions running high among fans in the stands. Most of all, there should be no shortage of entertainment.

The teams have met each other at the Bernabéu, on 80 past occasions, all in the first division. Real Madrid has won 55 of those games, with athletic Bilbao taking 13. The remaining 15 have ended in stalemates.

The last time Bilbao won away against Real Madrid was in February 2005 on the back of goals by del Horno and Iraola. However, the last seven games between the sides have gone Real Madrid’s way with the winners scoring 25 goals and conceding just six.

In their league opener, Real Madrid will want to begin with a victory to announce their title aspiration, loud and clear, for all their rivals to hear and dread.

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