The early goal set the tone for the hosts, who continued to dominate the game. Thiago Pitarch had a chance to double the lead, but Padilla made a crucial save to deny him.

Athletic Club struggled to create scoring opportunities in the final third, with Gorka Guruzeta heading the ball off-target.

Real Madrid added a second goal before halftime, as Jude Bellingham scored emphatically from Pitarch's looped pass, his second goal in three matches.

Athletic pulled one back in first-half stoppage time through Guruzeta, who volleyed home from Iñaki Williams' delivery, giving Los Leones a glimmer of hope.

The visitors' hopes of a comeback were quickly extinguished by Los Blancos at the start of the second period, as Kylian Mbappé scored his 25th La Liga goal of the season with a clinical low finish from the edge of the box.

Athletic refused to give up, and Ernesto Valverde's men remained a threat, with Guruzeta and Adama Boiro both going close to scoring.

Those chances proved to be the visitors' best opportunity to get back into the game, as Real Madrid cruised through the closing stages, adding a late fourth goal through substitute Brahim Díaz's close-range finish.