Immediate Reaction: Real Madrid 2-1 Sevilla

Real Madrid 2-1 Sevilla (Benzema & Vinícius Júnior). Here is the immediate reaction to the stalemate. Still to come: press conference details, player ratings and an infamous ManagingMadrid podcast.

Real Madrid were on a good streak of form, and it was the turn of second placed Sevilla to visit the Bernabéu. This posed a potential threat to Madrid’s spot at the top of the table, but a win would just extend the gap between the teams. For that reason Madrid started with a strong line-up full of seasoned pro’s. Antonio Blanco was the only outfield Castilla player who made the bench. Karim Benzema captained the side once more.

It was evident that these were the two top sides in La Liga from the off. Sevilla took the game to the hosts and were clearly keen to leapfrog themselves to the top. Rafa Mir opened the scoring on 12 minutes, after heading a corner accurately past Courtois. Sevilla continued to be dangerous, but Madrid held out and managed to equalise through the inevitable Karim Benzema with a cool finish after a mistake from the Sevilla goalkeeper. Marco Asensio came close to putting Madrid ahead, but the teams went into half time drawing. The game looked like it was destined to finish level, with cracking passes from Toni Kroos and Casemiro unable to assist the attackers in striking the finishing blow. Sevilla remained dangerous on the counter, but it was Real Madrid who would steal the glory late on. Another man in superb form, Vinícius Júnior picked the ball up in the final third with a lot of work to do. With a good first touch, he surged towards goal before rifling a shot from distance to blow the remainder of the Bernabéu roof off. This 2-1 win now means that Real Madrid are four points clear at the top of La Liga, and ten points clear of historic rivals Barcelona... Now, what did you think about that winner then?