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real Madrid 1-0 Seville (Modric). A late goal seals the victory. Here is the reaction to the match. More on the way: player ratings, post-game quotes and a post-game podcast.
Real Madrid’s considerable lead in La Liga seemed to be shrinking by the day, and a tough test for Sevilla, next on the fixture list, meant things could get tough. Antonio Rüdiger returned, giving a big boost to a team that still had no senior substitutes available. Brahim Díaz had another chance to impress, along with the likes of Fede Valverde and Vinícius Júnior. They called up three Castilla players, including yesterday’s scorer Álvaro Rodríguez. Luka Modrić joined them on the bench. Nacho Fernández was the captain of the team against former captain Sergio Ramos.
Real Madrid thought things would be much less complicated after scoring in the first ten minutes with a good touch and shot by Lucas Vázquez, but the goal was correctly disallowed on the scoreboard due to a foul by Nacho Fernández in the build-up. Vinícius Júnior looked lively on the left side with some nice touches, including a pass over a defender’s head to keep the ball. Sevilla were denied two soft penalty calls before they had a chance (they didn’t test Andriy Lunin during the first half). Aurélien Tchouaméni saw a good shot blocked by a defender, before Fede Valverde ended the half by forcing the goalkeeper into a fantastic save to keep the score at 0-0 at half-time.
Sevilla has a lot of players in the area. It’s hard to break down barriers like that. It is not easy to generate a large volume of clear chances against this type of scheme, but Real Madrid are doing it the right way. They are breaking lines…
– Kiyan Sobhani (@KiyanSo) February 25, 2024
Valverde also started the second half with a great chance, this time hitting the post after apparently beating the goalkeeper. Lunin had to prove that he was the best goalkeeper on the field and he did so with a great save to deny the visitors their first good chance of the game. Rodrygo Goes would get things back on track for his team after a good run, placing the ball just wide of the goal. Ørjan Nyland continued the goalkeeping battle with a great save to stop Vinícius. He would again be on hand to deny a Brazilian, this time stopping a Rodrygo run with a low save. Luka Modrić came on to try and make an impact, and he did so after taking a good touch on the edge of the area and firing a shot at goal in classic style. All this with minutes left. Brahim Díaz had to go off injured before the final whistle, but the 1-0 victory was enough to give Madrid three crucial points and keep them at the top of the table. Thoughts on the game?