Continuation of the 18th day of La Liga this Sunday afternoon with a very important match in the fight for the title. After the surprise defeat of FC Barcelona on its lawn against Atlético de Madrid (1-2), which also took the lead in La Liga, Real Madrid had the opportunity to regain second place in the ranking and distance its Barcelona rival by two points. But for that, we had to win at home against a Sevilla FC team which was in 12th place. For the occasion, without Vinicius Jr, Carlo Ancelotti decided to bet on a trio of Mbappé, Rodrygo and Brahim Diaz, with Bellingham in support. The French Camavinga and Tchouameni were lined up in defense. The first in the left lane, the second in this central role alongside Rudiger.
Very quickly, Real Madrid got their foot on the ball and looked to find their attackers. While we expected to see Mbappé recover the left lane with the absence of Vinicius, the Frenchman was well comforted in his role as number 9. And it is in this position that he distinguished himself after 10 minutes On a pass from Rodrygo, the former Parisian turned around at the entrance to the area and sent a powerful missile into the top corner of a Fernandez who could do nothing (1-0). Enough to start his match perfectly and above all confirm his good form at the moment (4 goals in his last 4 La Liga matches). In the wake of this goal, Real Madrid took cover thanks to another missile.
Mbappé scorer and passer!
This time, it was the regular Federico Valverde who took his shot. On a combination on a corner, he was served at 30 meters. Nothing to scare him since he fired a dry, overpowering shot, which the poor Sevillian goalkeeper could not repel (2-0, 20th). Underwater, Sevilla was unable to free itself and made numerous technical errors. This benefited Rodrygo who was on the receiving end of a precise cross from Lucas Vazquez, very restless on the right. The Brazilian crossed his shot from close range (3-0, 34th). But in the process, Real Madrid relaxed in a very surprising way. At the kick-off, Sevilla reduced the score. Sanchez’s cross found Isaac Romero completely neglected by Tchouameni in the marking. Obviously, his header ended up in Courtois’ net (3-1, 35th).
An attitude which also provoked the anger of Carlo Ancelotti on his bench. But not enough to ignite the meeting either. Because then, Real Madrid calmly managed their lead. Same story when returning from the locker room against a timid Sevilla FC team. Stirring on the attacking front, Mbappé could even have scored a double in this match, but he lacked lucidity when finishing the actions (49th, 67th). However, he turned into a passer for the 4-1 goal signed Brahim Diaz (53rd). He could also have offered another goal to Rodrygo but the Brazilian’s shot was saved by Fernandez (68th). At the end of the match, Sevilla finally showed their best. And if Romero’s shot ended on the post (70th), Lukebakio’s shot at the near post surprised Courtois (4-2, 85th). Not enough to reverse the outcome of the meeting. With this convincing success, Real Madrid closes its 2024 year in style and climbs to 2nd place in the ranking. Carlo Ancelotti’s men still have a game in hand in this championship and are more than ever back in the title race. For its part, Sevilla is sinking into the soft underbelly of La Liga.
