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2025-26 Spanish La Liga
Matchday 11
Real Sociedad v Athletic Bilbao
Reale Arena
San Sebastian, Spain
Saturday, 1 November 2025
Kick-off is at 19h30
Athletic Bilbao head coach Ernesto Valverde will be looking for a reaction from his players when they make the short journey to Real Sociedad for a Basque derby at the Reale Arena on Saturday, November 1.
The Lions have endured a disappointing run of results since winning their opening three
La Liga games of the season, picking up just 14 points out of a possible 30.
Valverde's side arrested a worrying four-match winless streak with a 2-1 victory over Real Mallorca on October 4, but they were then held to a 0-0 draw by Elche before suffering a 1-0 defeat against Getafe on October 25.
Athletic have now slipped to ninth in the standings, level with the Azulones(10th), Elche (8th) and Rayo Vallecano (7th) on 14 points.
La Real are slowly recovering from a poor start to the campaign which saw them lose five of their first eight outings and collect just five points in the process.
A 2-1 triumph over Sevilla on October 24 lifted Sergio Francisco's side out of the relegation zone up to 17th position, although they're by no means safe from danger yet.
Sociedad are in a four-way tie with Valencia (18th), Real Mallorca (16th) and Levante (15th) on nine points, while Real Oviedo (19th) and Girona (20th) are only a further two adrift.
Valverde acknowledges that his team's performance standards have dropped this term and highlighted the importance of every point gained in a very competitive league.
"We have to pull ourselves together and realise that in La Liga every point is worth its weight in gold, even the one we lost today," the Spaniard said.
"The Champions League takes its toll on you. We have look at ourselves and see that we're not playing well. They (Getafe) were better than us. We couldn't break through their press. We tried to, but we couldn't do it.
"For me, today's match was very important when it comes to points. Winning meant a lot, and losing means we can't move forward. In La Liga, there's not a lot of difference between teams in terms of quality."
Head-to-Head (Last Five La Liga Meetings)
Matches - 5
Real Sociedad wins - 1
Athletic Bilbao wins - 3
Draws - 1
La Liga Matchday 11 fixtures:
Friday, October 31
22h00: Getafe v Girona
Saturday, November 1
15h00: Villarreal v Rayo Vallecano
17h15: Atletico Madrid v Sevilla
19h30: Real Sociedad v Athletic Bilbao
22h00: Real Madrid v Valencia
Sunday, November 2
15h00: Levante v Celta Vigo
17h15: Alaves v Espanyol
19h30: Barcelona v Elche
22h00: Real Betis v Real Mallorca
Monday, November 3
22h00: Real Oviedo v Osasuna
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