Real Madrid seek Sevilla win to build momentum before Clasico

Real Madrid will attempt to close the six-point gap to La Liga leaders FC Barcelona when they host FC Sevilla at the Santiago-Bernabeu on Sunday evening.

Jose Mourinho’s side are fourth in the table, while Sevilla sit fifth with 14 points from their opening eight matches. The fixture comes one week before the two leading Spanish clubs meet at Camp Nou.

Real Madrid produced a dramatic recovery in the Champions League on Wednesday, overturning a 3-1 deficit against AS Roma to win 4-3 in the Italian capital. That result took their league-phase total to six points.

In La Liga, the capital club beat Villarreal 1-0 in their previous home match. The victory followed a 2-1 defeat by Atletico de Madrid immediately before the international break and represented a strong response from Mourinho’s players.

The team must maintain that form before facing Barcelona next weekend. They will also play RB Leipzig in Europe on 21 October, but their immediate focus is on a Sevilla side that has had extra time to prepare.

Sevilla have not played since Monday’s entertaining 3-3 draw with Levante. Luis Garcia Plaza’s team have made a promising start to the campaign, recording four wins, two draws and two defeats.

Their fifth-place position, only four points behind Real Madrid, is a significant improvement on the club’s recent struggles, including a difficult 17th-place finish in 2024-2025.

However, the historical record makes this a demanding assignment. Sevilla defeated Real Madrid twice in 2018, but they are now without a win in 15 meetings in all competitions, losing 13 of those matches. Their last league victory at the Santiago-Bernabeu came in December 2008.

Real Madrid’s recent La Liga form is listed as V D V V D V, while their record in all competitions is V V V D V V. Sevilla’s league sequence reads D N V V D N.

The hosts will be without Vinicius Junior for their next four league matches as he serves a suspension following the red card he received against Villarreal. Eder Militao, Rodrygo, Ferland Mendy and Raul Asencio are also unavailable with muscle, knee, hip and leg injuries respectively.

Yan Diomande is expected to move to the left side of the attack, with Arda Guler on the right. Dean Huijsen should return in central defence. Endrick and Carlos Espi, who both made an impact from the bench against AS Roma, are expected to start among the substitutes.

Sevilla remain without Marcao, Jon Guridi and Miguel Sierra because of muscle, adductor and shoulder problems. Isaac Romero is suspended after being sent off against Levante. Robbie Ure, 22, scored his first goal for the club last time out and is expected to lead the attack, supported by Youssouf Fofana.

The projected Real Madrid line-up is Courtois; Dumfries, Konate, Huijsen, Cucurella; Valverde, Tchouameni; Guler, Bellingham, Diomande; Mbappe.

Sevilla are expected to select Vlachodimos; Iglesias, Castrin, Salas, Suazo; Agoume; Ejuke, Kochorashvili, Fofana, Correia; Ure.

Sevilla should be capable of testing Real Madrid, but the home side’s momentum and record against the Andalusian club point towards a 3-1 victory. The suggested selections are Real Madrid and over 2.5 goals at 1.50, Kylian Mbappe to score at 1.45, and an exact 3-1 score at 8.50.