Real Madrid midfielder Xabi Alonso has admitted that he will miss playing at Athletic Bilbao's home ground, which will be demolished to give way to their new venue, the Estadio San Mames Barria.

The Spain international played at the San Mames from 1999 until 2004 when he was part of Bilbao's first team.

"Coming here knowing it was the last time was special," Madrid's official website quotes him as saying.

"Whenever I've played here I've enjoyed it and I'm going to miss it, but you have to move forward."

Alonso featured in Madrid's 3-0 victory over Bilbao at the San Mames in La Liga on Sunday.

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Premier League Table

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Barcelona	12	11	0	1	40	11	29	33
2	Real Madrid	11	7	3	1	21	11	10	24
3	Atletico Madrid Atletico	12	6	5	1	18	7	11	23
4	Villarreal	11	6	3	2	20	19	1	21
5	Osasuna	12	6	3	3	17	16	1	21
6	Athletic Bilbao	12	5	4	3	18	12	6	19
7	Real Betis Betis	12	5	4	3	12	10	2	19
8	Mallorca	12	5	3	4	10	9	1	18
9	Rayo Vallecano	11	4	4	3	12	10	2	16
10	Celta Vigo	12	5	1	6	18	20	-2	16
11	Real Sociedad	12	4	3	5	10	10	0	15
12	Girona Girona	12	4	3	5	15	17	-2	15
13	Sevilla	12	4	3	5	12	17	-5	15
14	Alaves Alaves	12	4	1	7	14	19	-5	13
15	Leganes	12	2	5	5	12	16	-4	11
16	Getafe	12	1	7	4	8	10	-2	10
17	Espanyol	12	3	1	8	11	22	-11	10
18	Las Palmas Las Palmas	12	2	3	7	13	21	-8	9
19	Real Valladolid Valladolid	12	2	2	8	9	24	-15	8
20	Valencia	11	1	4	6	8	17	-9	7