Nico Williams Shines in Athletic Bilbao's 3-0 Victory Over Atletico Madrid
Nico Williams lit up San Mames and ripped the game away from Atletico Madrid in the space of a minute.
Athletic Bilbao’s explosive start to the second half turned a tense contest into a statement 3-0 win, their second La Liga victory of the season, as Diego Simeone’s side were taken apart in front of a roaring home crowd.
Williams brothers ignite San Mames
The breakthrough came from the family connection everyone in Bilbao knows by heart.
Inaki Williams fired goalwards, the effort was diverted into the area, and Nico reacted first, darting into space and guiding a header home to open the scoring. It was his first league goal since May, when he struck twice against Alaves, and the release was obvious – from the stands, from the bench, and from the player himself.
Atletico barely had time to reset.
Seconds after the restart, Athletic pounced again. A rapid counter saw Nico and Inaki combine at full tilt, shredding Atletico’s shape. The move ended with Robert Navarro arriving to sweep in the second. One goal had stunned Simeone’s men. The second left them reeling.
From there, Athletic played with a swagger that matched the noise inside San Mames. Oihan Sancet later added a third, a late strike that underlined the gulf that had opened up between the sides by full time.
Terzic’s touch and a dressing-room spark
For Nico Williams, the performance was a reflection of the work being done by head coach Edin Terzic. The winger did not hold back in his praise after the final whistle, crediting the German with reshaping Athletic’s approach and sharpening their ideas on the ball and off it.
"The manager we have is spectacular, and you can see it on the pitch," Nico said. "He's instilled many new things in us that we're grasping perfectly."
The turning point, in his eyes, came away from the cameras.
"In the second half, he really got us into the game with a great talk in the locker room," he added. "We're very happy with the manager's style of play."
That team talk showed on the grass. Athletic adjusted their structure, their tempo and their aggression, and Atletico never found an answer once the dam broke.
Tactical edge and a show of courage
Terzic, for his part, highlighted how his players handled the occasion and the opposition. Atletico did threaten early, with Kang-In Lee striking the post to jolt San Mames into a brief hush, but the response from the hosts impressed their coach.
Athletic read the game and adapted. In the second half, they shifted intelligently into a back three to smother Atletico’s tactical tweaks and protect their advantage, while still carrying threat in transition.
"I see a team that’s always ready to fight for victory," Terzic said. "For me, the most important thing has been how we reacted... we showed real courage."
He also saluted the backing from the stands, a constant surge of noise that matched the intensity on the pitch.
Momentum building, eyes already on Elche
Back-to-back league wins have given Athletic Bilbao something they have often lacked in recent seasons: early momentum and a sense of continuity. The 3-0 over Atletico follows a valuable away triumph and has injected belief into a squad buying fully into Terzic’s long-term vision.
Nico Williams made it clear the three points carried extra weight coming on the back of that road win, framing this result as another step in a project that is beginning to take shape.
Terzic, though, refused to linger on the celebrations. He stressed that attention turns immediately to Saturday’s league clash with Elche CF, a chance to prove that this was not just a big-night performance, but the new standard for Athletic Bilbao.
