Kylian Mbappe scored twice to lead Real Madrid to a 4-1 victory over Sevilla at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday, narrowing the gap on La Liga leaders Barcelona to six points just a week before the arch-rivals meet in El Clasico.
Playing without the suspended Vinicius Jr, Real delivered one of their most fluid and complete attacking performances of the season under coach Jose Mourinho. Turkish international Arda Guler orchestrated much of the early pressure, sparking a cagey match into life after a stale opening period. Following early appeals from Sevilla for a red card involving Guler and Peque Fernandez, Guler answered by collecting a pass from Yan Diomande and rifling a shot into the top corner for his second La Liga goal of the campaign.
Mbappe doubled the advantage in the 37th minute with an equally impressive individual effort, turning brilliantly to break through the Sevilla defense before calmly beating goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos.
Sevilla threatened to mount a comeback early in the second half when Fede Valverde, deployed at right back by Mourinho, made a crucial defensive block to deny Felix Correia just before the hour mark. However, Real soon capitalized on open space as Sevilla pushed forward. Diomande slipped Mbappe in behind the defense, and defender Andres Castrin brought the French forward down inside the penalty area. Mbappe picked himself up to convert the ensuing penalty kick, effectively putting the match out of reach.
Sevilla briefly cut into the deficit with ten minutes remaining when substitute Manu Bueno finished cleanly after Mbappe lost possession deep in his own half. Any hopes of a late rally were swiftly extinguished two minutes later, however, when Diomande capped off a strong individual performance by hammering home a thunderous strike to restore Real’s three-goal cushion.
The closing stages also brought a welcome return for defender Eder Militao, who received a warm ovation from the home crowd when he entered the match in the 85th minute for his first appearance since undergoing hamstring surgery in April.
The victory marks Real’s third consecutive win in all competitions since the international break, lifting them to third place in the table with 21 points, one behind second-placed Atletico Madrid. Sevilla remains in sixth place with 14 points.
At the top of the table, Barcelona maintained their blistering pace on Saturday by defeating Real Betis 5-2 to secure their ninth win in nine matches, bringing their league tally to 39 goals. Lamine Yamal opened the scoring with a dazzling effort, followed by goals from Rodri, Gabriel Jesus, Eric Garcia, and substitute Dani Olmo. Betis replied through Valentin Gomez and Ez Abde, though their task was made harder when Facundo Bernal was sent off for head-butting Yamal during the second half. Barcelona leads the standings with 27 points, five ahead of Atletico Madrid after Atletico’s 1-0 win away at Espanyol.
In other weekend fixtures across La Liga, Osasuna weathered intense second-half pressure to defeat Racing Santander 2-0 in Jagoba Arrasate’s first match back in charge. Celta Vigo edged Alaves 2-1 thanks to two crucial flying saves by Ionut Radu, and Real Sociedad cruised to a 5-2 victory away at Malaga.
