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Spanish champions Real Madrid have endured a few turbulent weeks in LaLiga Santander as well as the UEFA Champions League, but have managed to return to winning ways with a 1-0 victory against Sevilla. The Blancos were made to work extremely hard for what ended up being a narrow victory against Julen Lopetegui's men at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.
Zinedine Zidane has come under immense criticism in recent times and went for his veteran midfield trio of Luka Modric, Casemiro, and Toni Kroos in the side. Nacho continued to deputise for the injured Sergio Ramos, while Karim Benzema returned to the starting line up after recovering from his hamstring issue.
The home side put up a spirited display against the champions, seeing a major chunk of the ball throughout and forcing Real onto the back foot for large spells of the game. However, they found it challenging to play through a rigid Blancos side, who defended exceptionally well against the reigning UEFA Europa League champions.
The first half was a frustrating 45 minutes for both sides as it was a tactical battle between both sides, nullifying each other's major threats. That being said, the visitors arguably had the better chances. Vinicius Jr, in particular, had a couple of meaningful opportunities to break the deadlock and came close to doing so.
Sevilla began the second half with a flurry of high-octane attacks, and Lopetegui's switch of system clearly helped a Sevilla side who looked in need of that extra bit of precision in the final third despite seeing more of the ball.
The game's dynamic shifted in the 55th minute after Vinicius Jr gave Real Madrid the lead against the run of play after a slick counter-attack, getting a touch on a brilliant cross from Ferland Mendy. It ultimately went down as an own-goal from Yassine Bounou, but it was the goal that gave the visitors all three points.
Sevilla threw bodies forward and attempted to claw their way back into the game, with the likes of Suso, Lucas Ocampos, Luuk de Jong, and others coming close to scoring an equaliser. Thibaut Courtois was significantly busy in the second half as the hosts looked to break through a well-organised Real Madrid defence.
They ultimately failed to do so, and Real Madrid walked away from Seville with all three points despite seeing just 37% of the possession and attempting lesser shots than their opposition. They now move up to third place on the league
table. Here, we take a look at some of the best tweets from the game.
