Zinedine Zidane has praised the attitude of his Real Madrid players following Sunday’s battling 2-1 win over Athletic Bilbao.

Los Blancos took an early lead through Karim Benzema, only for Sabin Moreno to equalise for the Basques, who dominated large swathes of the game, with Inaki Williams especially guilty of wasting a string of chances.

It was left to substitute Alvaro Morata to bundle home the winner with seven minutes to go and send his side to the top of La Liga.

Like on a number of occasions already this season, Real were far from fluent and the Bernabeu crowd made no secret of their disquiet on a wet and windy night in the Spanish capital.

Zidane has earned praise for adding steel to his side since taking over in January and admitted he was pleased with the spirit they showed against a determined Bilbao outfit.

The Frenchman says Sunday’s game showed just how competitive La Liga is and believes the attitude his players showed will stand them in good stead going forward.

“I saw a tough, tough game, but in the end we’re happy with the win and the game we had,” Zidane told reporters.

“In many moments of the game, the players gave their all on the pitch. “We’re not going to achieve anything in La Liga without work and suffering.

You can’t always score five or six goals so easily. “The players gave everything. If we lacked attitude then I’d be concerned, but it’s not the case.

We didn’t give up, kept a cool head and won three very difficult and important points.” Real are currently 2.75 to win La Liga, with Barcelona the 1.75 favourites, while Atletico are 7.00.