Athletic Bilbao have gone into half time of their clash with Real Madrid with a 1-0 lead thanks to a header from Aritz Aduriz.

Real started slowly at San Mames as Bilbao looked to stamp their authority on proceedings, but it was the visitors who created the first opening when Karim Benzema had an effort blocked inside the penalty area.

Bilbao responded through Aduriz, with his header from a Oscar de Marcos cross drifting wide of the post, but that chance gave the home side some momentum and they went ahead on 26 minutes.

Mikel Rico delivered a cross in from a wide area for Aduriz, who powered a thumping header past Iker Casillas for his 16th of the campaign.

Tensions threatened to boil over as four men entered the referee's notebook in 11 minutes, but that suited Bilbao and Real will have to improve if they want to extend their advantage over Barcelona in the La Liga table.