1-0! The 38-year-old veteran is crazy! Unbeaten in 20 rounds, Real Madrid leads the La Liga standings with an 8-point advantage
At 4:00 a.m. Beijing time on February 26, the 26th round of the 2023-24 La Liga season ushered in a key battle: Real Madrid VS Sevilla.
Real Madrid currently leads the La Liga standings, and Sevilla, the "king of the Europa League", is also a traditional powerhouse in La Liga, but it has fallen into a slump in the past two seasons.
In the La Liga standings before the game, Real Madrid led the 25 games with 19 wins, 5 draws and 1 loss with 62 points, and led the defending champion Barcelona by 5 points with 1 round less. Sevilla 25 games, 5 wins, 9 draws, 11 losses, 24 points, ranking first mistake, 1 round less than Cadiz in the relegation zone 6 points, still fighting for relegation.
Yes, Real Madrid started the 433 formation, Rodrygo played a cameo role as a center forward, and Vinicius and Dias formed a forward trident, midfielders Kroos, Tchouameni, Valverde, four defenders Mendy, Nacho, Rudiger, Vazquez, goalkeeper Lunin. The total value of the starting eleven is 540 million euros.
It is clear that Real Madrid is also facing a serious injury attrition problem. A total of 4 strikers, the only center forward Joselu is injured, the core of the midfield, the top scorer Bellingham injury should be almost better, probably not in the list for the sake of caution, after all, there is still a tough game against Leipzig in the second leg of the Champions League 1/8 finals. Toni Rudiger returned from injury and Tchouameni returned to midfield from his cameo role at centre-back.
Sevilla started in a 532 formation, with I. Romero and En-Nesyri in the front, midfielders Sow, Sumare and Torres, defenders Ocampos, Silas, Ramos, Bardei, Navas, and goalkeeper Niland. The total value of the starting eleven is 88.4 million euros.
In the 7th minute, Vinicius was ahead with the ball and was directly tackled by Ramos, of course, the ball was shoveled out first.
In the 8th minute, Sevilla played a quick counter-attack, and En-Nesyri shot wide.
In the 10th minute, Nacho passed the ball to Vinicius after a steal, Vinicius then transferred the ball to the empty box, Vazquez followed up and scored, VAR intervened, Nacho fouled first, and the goal was invalid.
In first-half stoppage time, Valverde had a high-quality long-range shot from outside the box that was saved by the goalkeeper.
In the 49th minute, Vázquez crossed from the right, Valverde's shot hit the post and bounced off the post, and then it was cleared.
In the 75th minute, Carlo Ancelotti replaced Nacho with Luka Modric, and it was this substitution that paid off wonders.
In the 81st minute, Valverde crossed the penalty area diagonally from the right, Sevilla cleared not far away, and at the top of the arc, Modric shook the ball past the defense and shot from a distance, hitting a world wave. Real Madrid broke the deadlock and led Sevilla 1-0.
In the end, with Modric's goal, Real Madrid defeated Sevilla 1:0 at home, and Real Madrid continued to lead the La Liga standings with 65 points in 26 games, 8 points ahead of the second-place Barcelona.