Athletic 1 – 4 Real Madrid
The first of the photos are in the gallery.
Real Madrid beat Athletic Bilbao convincingly in San Mames to keep their title bid alive. They went into the match knowing that they needed a victory to stay within 2 points of the top of the table and despite the pressure, delivered and delivered well. David Beckham was instrumental in getting the game off to a flying start with Sergio Ramos heading in from a Becks free kick for the second week in a row, to give Real Madrid the psychological edge in the 13th minute. Van the Man scored a brace and Guti sealed the deal. The Official match report in english and photos are online here.
The Real Madrid match report praises Becks contribution saying “David Beckham had a colossal game” which he did. He played with tremendous heart and was crucial to the victory. It was a performance that was a fitting tribute to another great England No. 7 Alan Ball, who has recently passed away. Becks wore a black armband to mark his passing and as a show of respect for one of the legends of the game. Thanks to Siniestrototal for providing this info.
The only sour note was that Becks picked up his fifth yellow card and will serve a one match suspension, which will rule him out of next weeks game against second placed Sevilla.
I'm so happy they won! Yay!!!
Yay, they won big! Why oh why did David get another yellow card.. especially with so little games left to play? I'm warming up on the hair, he looks hot. Thanks for the update hun!
im' bummed about him being booked, but still a strong win. good game.
Sergio and Becks are quite the dynamic duo LOL sexy too!
Great win! For once I didn't have to spend the last 10 minutes engaged in prayer
Real Madrid website match reports don't even usually mention Becks! He must have been collosally colossal to get an honorable mention. I'm glad Becks is showing Capello Mijatovic and Calderon exactly what they are gonna be missing! The sad part is that I really don't know if LA Galaxy has a Sergio Ramos 
Total bummer about Sevilla. Do Sevilla have a mid-week UEFA cup game this week…anyone know? Bloody well hope so!
Syd…Sevilla FC plays agaisnt Osasuna this week, a home match.And I watched one Los Angeles Galaxy match this season. The one against FC Dallas. And as far as I could see, they play the kind of game that suits Becks. Lots of long balls, crosses, they use the right midfield a lot with Chris Albright, but I think Becks will play as a central midfielder. But at the game against FC Dallas they had scoring problems. I thought they really needed a striker, a number 9. I still think they need, to be honest. But LA Galaxy style really suits Becks. Donovan is the king of assists at the moment. Hopefully they will be a great duo.Obviously I only watched 1 match, so I cannot say that much. About the game against Bilbao, Becks played really well at the first half and was important to control the ball at the second. I really think his yellow card it's unfair. I mean, Cannavaro and some other Athletic Bibao players were more tough at some moments and no yellow/red cards to them.I think Becks is frustated about it. It's another important match that he will miss.
Oh, and he played with the black armband because of England footballer legend Alan Ball that died this week. Alan Ball, like Becks, wore the 7 shirt for England and was a right midfielder.He was part of the team that won the 1966 WC.Becks, as always, showing his patriotism. I really admire it. *RIP, Alan Ball* 
Becks did play well and he will be really missed next week and too there is only now 3 more times he will wear white shirt at bernabeu
HALA MADRID!!! Love to you Becks!!
Thanks Siniestro I wondered about the armband especially as it wasn't a team thing but I couldn't find any info in the match write-ups and the commentary I had didn't mention it. Thanks!
Thanks very much Sienestrototal let's hope Sevilla will be tired in that case. Yes the suspension is a great pity he's been so important for them the last two games can they win the big won without him… that is the concern. It's sad for him to miss it but a lot worse if the last hope for a title is scuttled
well Syd there is always the power of positive thought so let's believe they will win la liga! I mean until we have concrete evidence to the contrary we might as well enjoy being optimistic
Thanks for the info about Alan Ball. It was a nice thing for Becks to do that
You're welcome. *Embarassed*All the Premiership teams paid tribute to Alan Ball during the weekend, especially Everton fans, because he played there. I remember when George Best passed away, Becks also paid tribute to him wearing a black armband when he played against Real Sociedad and he did the same now.