Valverde arrowed in a sublime strike in the third minute of stoppage-time, sealing a 1-0 victory that kept Madrid's LaLiga title hopes alive.

Jude Bellingham missed several gilt-edged chances and Vinicius Junior saw a goal disallowed before Valverde, who has played out of position at right-back for much of the campaign, came up with a moment of magic.

It was Valverde's sixth LaLiga goal of the season, and Courtois believes Valverde has the shooting prowess to take things on more often.

"Fede has a very unusual shot, a very good one," Courtois said.

"In training [before the match] he kicked a ball that looked like it was going wide and suddenly it took a spin and you think, 'How did you kick that?' It's very sharp, fast and powerful.

"In training, he easily does one or two like that a week. We've been telling him for years, 'Shoot, shoot'."

Valverde's goal was Madrid's fourth-latest winner in LaLiga in the 21st Century.

It not only moved Madrid back to within four points of leader Barcelona, which Los Blancos face in the Copa del Rey final at the weekend, but also eased some of the pressure on head coach Carlo Ancelotti.

"Valverde was the key because he scored the goal," Ancelotti said.

"The team did well. We were a bit slower in the first half, but in the second half we did very well in every aspect. We wanted to win, to bounce back after being knocked out of the [UEFA] Champions League [by Arsenal].

"It was a good match. We were aggressive and didn't concede. We were more solid and played better as a team."

With Kylian Mbappe suspended, Bellingham took up a false nine role, but could not make the most of his chances.

The England international had five attempts, but either missed the target or found Athletic goalkeeper Unai Simon, who was in fine form throughout the game.

"We controlled the first half, we didn't feel any pressure from Athletic, but we didn't create any chances," Ancelotti said.

"[Bellingham as false nine] gave us a big advantage last year. We didn't use it in the first half, but we did in the second.

"We attacked many times from the outside and he was there to finish it off. He deserved to score."

Ancelotti also praised winger Vinicius Junior, who was Madrid's standout player throughout.

"Vinicius has a fantastic attitude and was exhausted in the second half. He was decisive, as always," the Italian added.

"These haven't been happy days for him, but I really liked his reaction. He's going to be very important in the coming games, because of what he is on the pitch and because of his attitude."

Athletic, meanwhile, is still five points clear of fifth-place Villarreal in a race for fourth place.

Without star attacker Nico Williams, Ernesto Valverde's team mustered just three shots, but Alex Berenguer felt the performance merited a point.

"I think we played a good game," he said.

"We held out almost until the end, but this is Real Madrid, this is the Bernabeu, and in the end they got the goal in the last seconds.

"They're so good, they kept putting the ball into our area and creating chances. In the end, you just end up camped in your own penalty area and one of them will end up going past you."