"The Bilbao Shootout": Athletic narrowly triumphed over Girona

On Monday, February 19, the pivotal match of the 25th round of La Liga took place. Athletic Bilbao hosted one of the title contenders, Girona, at their home ground.

In the second minute of the match, the hosts took the lead, capitalizing on a mistake by the Catalans. Alex Berenguer caught the defenders off guard and struck the near corner of the net. In the first half, Girona failed to mount any significant resistance, and the teams went into halftime with the score at 1-0 in favor of Athletic.

After the break, it took the guests just four minutes to level the score. Victor Tsyhankov restored parity on the scoreboard in the 49th minute. The deadlock didn't last long. In the 56th minute, Alex Berenguer capitalized on another mistake, completing a brace and putting Bilbao back in the lead. Four minutes later, Inaki Williams scored the third goal - 3-1.

In the 75th minute, Girona narrowed the gap thanks to a goal from Eric Garcia. However, Athletic Bilbao managed to maintain their slender advantage and emerged victorious with a scoreline of 3-2.

The La Liga title contender, Girona, lost the opportunity to close the gap on Real Madrid. They now stand at 56 points, trailing the top spot by six points.