Real Madrid dropped points for the first time this season with an exciting 1-1 draw against Athletic Bilbao on Saturday night.

Isco came off the bench to rescue a point after a scrambled first-half opener from Iker Muniain, and that was just about the right result from a pulsating encounter.

This is how the players rated in San Mames.

ATHLETIC BILBAO

Simon – 8: Made several excellent saves and was composed throughout. Spilled Bale’s free-kick but made amends with great stop from the rebound.

De Marcos -7: Tigerish in the tackle and delivered a good cross for the opener. Strong at the back and purposeful going forward.

Yeray – 7: Booked for fouling Ceballos but nearly everything else he did was perfectly timed. Excellent in the heart of defence.

Martinez – 7: Authoritative performance from the Spain international, regularly getting himself into the right place just in the nick of time.

 Yuri – 6: Fired a couple of first half shots straight at Courtois and tried to come forward as often as possible. Solid at the back.

D Garcia – 7: Technically outclassed by Madrid’s ball-playing midfielders but showed positional discipline and did a good job defensively.

Benat – 5: Less impact on the ball than he would like, struggling to establish his usual passing rhythm and was replaced near the end.

Susaeta – 8: Lively down the right, drilling a shot wide and finding a great pass to spark the opener. Switched flanks later and continued to impress.

R Garcia – 6: Linked midfield and attack with some deft touches, but faded after the break as he went to war with Casemiro.

Muniain – 6: Slow start but in the right place to prod home the opener. Became more influential before suffering an injury just after the break.

Williams – 6: Led the line with power and pace. Dragged an early shot wide and played a part in the opener. Ran out of gas.

SUBS: 

Capa – 7: Replaced Muniain in midfield and was full of honest hustle and bustle down the right flank, giving Marcelo plenty to think about.

San Jose – 6: Strengthened the midfield for the latter stages and did his job to shore things up in the centre of the pitch.

Rico – 6: The final change for Athletic, entering for the last ten minutes. Came close to winning it with an injury time strike.

REAL MADRID

Courtois – 6: Didn’t always look comfortable between the posts but stayed alert to secure a point with a decent stoppage time save.

Carvajal – 7: Fantastic levels of fitness allowed him to become increasingly influential as the game wore on. Never stopped running.

 Varane – 8:  Great intervention to cut out one first half attack, and a similarly fine challenge near the end to sum up an excellent performance.

 Ramos – 7: Strong at the back and regularly ventured forward, coming close with a close-range rebound and curling a free-kick over the top.

 Marcelo – 6: Conjured some fantasy football flicks and tricks but little end product going forward and sometimes shaky at the back.

 Modric – 6: Plenty of classy touches in midfield and occasionally ventured to the penalty area. Surprise when he was taken off after an hour.

 Kroos – 6: Metronomic passing from his starting deep role in midfield. Less involved later on when he moved further forward.

 Ceballos – 5: Workmanlike in the centre of midfield but offered little as an attacking presence and was substituted at half-time.

 Bale – 6: Misfired with a few efforts on goal and was generally well below his best, but produced a brilliant half-volleyed cross for the leveller.

 Benzema – 6: Floated in and out of the action, knitting play well in midfield but rarely looking like continuing his fine goalscoring start to the season.

 Asensio – 7: Real’s biggest threat in the early stages, seeing a curling shot well saved. Also came close in the second half and always dangerous.

SUBS: 

Casemiro – 7: Left out initially but came on at half-time and made himself a nuisance with powerful defending and measured play on the ball.

Isco – 7: Introduced to add goal threat and complied immediately, heading home the leveller from close range. Continued to regularly prompt danger.

Vazquez – 5: The last entrant for the visitors, replacing Bale for the last 15 minutes. Delivered some poor balls and got booked.