Sevilla travel to the Santiago Bernabeu to take on a Real Madrid side hoping to strengthen their grip at the top of the table.
Date: 25/02/24
Kick-off time: 20:00
Venue: Santiago Bernabeu
This weekend’s La Liga fixture sees table toppers Real Madrid face Sevilla in what could be a very important game in the race for the title. Carlo Ancelotti’s men disappointedly dropped points away at Rayo Vallecano, which may allow second-place Girona to close the gap between the pair.
Their title challengers play on Monday night, and have a great opportunity to cut the deficit to just three points with a win over Athletic Bilbao. It would set up a tense finish to the season with 13 games to go. Sevilla have struggled mightily this season with 24 points from 25 games. This leaves them in 15th place, seven points above the bottom three. It would have to take an even more drastic downturn in form to see them dragged into a relegation battle, and their recent results have suggested they are moving in the right direction. They are unbeaten in four games, which includes a victory over Atletico Madrid. However, they face the trickiest test of all to keep this streak alive.
The hosts boast the league’s best defence, so Sevilla will find it tough to get past them. They have found goals hard to come by this season, with their top scorer being Youssef En-Nesyri with seven goals. After him, only two other players have scored more than twice. They also struggle defensively, conceding 37 goals so far. They won’t have to deal with Jude Bellingham, who is injured, but they will have to keep an eye out for a number of attacking threats such as Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo and Joselu.
Games between these two sides are always competitive, especially in recent seasons. In the last six meetings, both teams have scored at least one goal. There have been 21 total goals in these games. Four of these ended in Real Madrid’s favour, with the remaining two resulting in draws. Sevilla have not got the better of their opponents since 2018, when they won 3-0.
There was nothing to split the two sides in the reverse fixture earlier this season, as the points were shared in a 1-1 draw. The game was goalless for the majority of the game, but the deadlock was broken in the 74th minute as David Alaba put the ball in his own net to give the hosts the lead. This did not last long though, with Dani Carvajal soon putting his side back on level terms. Neither team could find the winner.
Primera División 
