After 93 minutes of heroic defensive solidity away to Real Madrid, Ernesto Valverde's men were left crestfallen when their manager's namesake Federico Valverde thundered home an astonishing last-gasp winner on Sunday night.
It looked like it was going to be their night when Vinicius Junior had a goal disallowed 10 minutes from time, as the heavily-rotated Bilbao side looked set to hold on for an unlikely point.
However, the eventual defeat means that Champions League qualification is still not secure, despite the top five in La Liga now being guaranteed entry to Europe's top-tier competition, but Valverde's team selection proves that their attention is all on the Europa League at present.
Athletic took one step closer to playing in a European final at their home stadium by beating Rangers on Thursday night, and all eyes will now be on their semi-final with Manchester United at the start of May.
There is no La Liga gameweek at the weekend with the Copa del Rey final taking place, so that will afford Bilbao more time to prepare for the semi-final, but they do have a Basque derby against Real Sociedad coming up in between the two legs.
That will be important in the race for the top five, where sixth-place Real Betis are chasing down those above them, so Bilbao will hope to maintain their excellent home form this midweek, having won over two points-per-game at San Mames this season.
Valverde's side also have a tricky finish to the campaign though, facing La Real, as well as in-form Valencia and title-favourites Barcelona.
Therefore, the home faithful will hope to see their side claim another victory over Las Palmas, because the 3-2 win away from home in the reverse means they have come out on top in all three meetings since their upcoming opponents were promoted ahead of last season.
Las Palmas have only won once in Bilbao since 1980, losing 10 of their 14 meetings in that time, but they enter the fixture riding the crest of a wave after two crucial results over the past week and a half.
The great escape is potentially on for Diego Martinez's side, who looked certain to go down following a run of 13 games without a win to start 2025.
A potentially pivotal moment in the relegation fight went their way on Saturday night, when Javier Munoz scored a 95th-minute winner to beat Atletico Madrid on the Canaries.
That came after a 3-1 victory over Getafe away from home the week before, capitalising on a first-half red card to come from behind and win.
Las Palmas enter this fixture outside the bottom three, one point above Alaves, but with eight still realistically in the scrap at the bottom, it is impossible to call.
