Kylian Mbappe led the way with two goals as Real Madrid secured a commanding 4-1 victory over Sevilla at the Santiago Bernabeu. The win allows Jose Mourinho’s side to narrow the distance between themselves and La Liga leaders Barcelona to six points, setting the stage for a critical meeting between the rivals next Sunday.
Despite playing without the suspended Vinicius Jr, the home side displayed a fluid offensive rhythm. Arda Guler was central to the attack, breaking the deadlock by collecting a pass from Yan Diomande and firing a precise strike into the top corner. This came shortly after a controversial moment where Sevilla appealed for a red card following a collision between Guler and Peque Fernandez. Despite the absence of suspended Vinicius Jr, Real produced the fluid attacking football the team had been lacking of late, with Arda Guler again orchestrating their best work on Sunday.
Mbappe further extended the lead in the 37th minute, turning sharply to weave through the defense before clinicaly beating Sevilla goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos. The French forward later added a second goal from the penalty spot after being brought down by Andres Castrin, a foul earned when Diomande sent him racing behind the defensive line. Evading his marker before sending Mbappe in behind the defence, diomande then exploited the space created by Sevilla’s more adventurous approach.
Sevilla managed to pull one back when substitute Manu Bueno scored with a composed finish 10 minutes from time, capitalizing on a misplaced pass by Mbappe deep in his own territory.
However, Diomande quickly restored the three-goal cushion by smashing home a powerful shot just two minutes later. Defensively, Fede Valverde provided a vital block before the hour mark to stop Felix Correia from mounting a comeback.
The match also served as a milestone for Eder Militao, who made his return to the pitch in the 85th minute after recovering from hamstring surgery last April, receiving a warm reception from the crowd. Real Madrid have now secured three consecutive wins across all competitions, moving them to 21 points and into third place in the league table. The Turkish international sparked the match into life, after a stale opening. Real, who have won three straight games in all competitions following the international break, climbed to third on 21 points, one behind Atletico Madrid, while Sevilla are sixth on 14.
Elsewhere in Spain, Barcelona maintained their perfect run with a 5-2 win against Real Betis, moving to 27 points. Lamine Yamal opened the scoring, followed by goals from Rodri, Gabriel Jesus, Eric Garcia, and Dani Olmo. Betis played much of the second half with ten men after Facundo Bernal was dismissed for an incident involving Yamal. Earlier on Saturday, Barcelona beat Real Betis 5-2 to make it nine wins from nine and stretch their blistering league tally to 39 goals.
In other league action, Atletico Madrid defeated Espanyol 1-0. Meanwhile, Jagoba Arrasate celebrated his return as Osasuna manager with a 2-0 victory over Racing Santander. Celta Vigo claimed a 2-1 win against Alaves behind a strong goalkeeping performance, and Real Sociedad cruised to a 5-2 win over Malaga. Five above Atletico, who won 1-0 at Espanyol, while third-placed Betis have 19 and Real Madrid sit fourth on 18 before welcoming Sevilla on Sunday, barca moved to 27 points.
