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2025-26 Spanish La Liga
Matchday 17
Athletic Bilbao v Espanyol
Estadio San Mames
Bilbao, Spain
Monday, 22 December 2025
Kick-off is at 22h00
Athletic Bilbao will be desperate to end the year on a winning note when they welcome Espanyol to San Mames on Monday, December 22 in the final La Liga fixture of 2025.
The Lions haven't been able to replicate their impressive form of last season which saw them qualify for the UEFA Champions League for the first time in 11 years.
Ernesto Valverde's side suffered their eighth defeat of the campaign with a 2-0 reverse to Celta Vigo on December 14 - their third loss in five matches.
Athletic are only one point outside the European berths in seventh position, but they've played two games more than six-placed Real Betis, who were due to face Rayo Vallecano on Monday, December 15.
The Parakeets have been one of the surprise teams this term, winning nine of their opening 16 matches to challenge for a top-four berth.
A 1-0 victory over Getafe on December 13 strengthened their hold on fifth spot and Manolo Gonzalez's side trail Atletico Madrid (4th) by just four points with a game in hand.
The Catalan outfit are seeking their fifth straight win in the league in more than a decade, but they've only managed to beat the Basque giants twice in their last 10 meetings.
Valverde is hoping his team's poor performance at Balaidos does not become a regular occurrence after admitting they didn't cause Celta nearly enough problems.
"It's a backward step," the Spaniard conceded. "We have two matches left until the end of the first half of the season and we need to pick up points.
"There is a lot of difference in level between all the teams in La Liga. It is difficult to collect points and today we didn't take a step forward. We're not happy.
"In other away matches, I've thought the team performed well, even when we lost. Today, however, we did not play well, irrespective of the result.
"We didn't look dangerous. I don't think it will be something regular. It's not something that worries me, but we weren't direct enough today. We had the ball, but we weren't really hurting them. We weren't clinical."
Head-to-Head (Last Five La Liga Meetings)
Matches - 5
Athletic wins - 3
Espanyol wins - 1
Draws - 1
La Liga Matchday 17 fixtures:
Friday, December 19
22h00: Valencia v Real Mallorca
Saturday, December 20
15h00: Real Oviedo v Celta Vigo
17h15: Levante v Real Sociedad
19h30: Osasuna v Alaves
22h00: Real Madrid v Sevilla
Sunday, December 21
15h00: Girona v Atletico Madrid
17h15: Villarreal v Barcelona
19h30: Elche v Rayo Vallecano
22h00: Real Betis v Getafe
Monday, December 22
22h00: Athletic Bilbao v Espanyol
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