The 4-2 victory over Sevilla in round 18 of La Liga on the evening of December 22 not only helped Real Madrid close to the top of the table, but this team surpassed great rival Barcelona on the rankings.
The race for the top in La Liga became hotter than ever when Real Madrid surpassed Barcelona to take second place on the rankings, one point behind Atletico Madrid.
Before entering the match in round 18, “White Vulture” is showing excellent performance at home with 19 wins in the last 20 matches against Sevilla.
Coach Carlo Ancelotti’s team, with high morale and psychology after winning the 2024 Intercontinental Cup, entered the game full of confidence and was determined to close 2024 with a victory.
Real Madrid dominated as soon as the opening whistle blew. After 10 minutes of pressing the opponent, Kylian Mbappe opened the score for the home team with an unstoppable long-range shot from a distance of about 20 meters, after a sharp pass from Rodrygo.
Receiving an early goal, Sevilla began to raise their squad in search of an equalizer. However, the away team’s weak resistance did not pose any danger to Real Madrid’s goal.
In the 20th minute, Federico Valverde shined with a shot from 25 meters away. Receiving a pass from his teammate, the Uruguayan midfielder shot with his right foot, causing the ball to stretch and hit the top corner of the goal, increasing the score to 2-0.
Scoring 2 beautiful goals, Real Madrid played sublimely and showed off their deadly moves. In the 34th minute, Rodrygo increased the score to 3-0 after an exemplary counter-attack combination on the right wing between Lucas Vazquez, Brahim Diaz and Rodrygo.
Sevilla immediately had a goal to shorten the score in the 35th minute. Isaac Romero accurately headed a beautiful lob from Juanlu Sanchez, hitting the net of goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. They entered the break with a gap of 2 goals compared to Real Madrid.
Entering the second half, coach Anceloti’s team regained their 3-goal advantage after a well-coordinated situation between the trio Vazquez, Mbappe, and Brahim Diaz. This time, Mbappe played the role of assisting Diaz to score with a smart escape, bringing the ball to the top corner to increase the score to 4-1 for Los Blancos.
Sevilla’s efforts at the end of the match only helped them score another goal in the 85th minute thanks to Lukebakio.
Winning 4-2, Real Madrid rose to 2nd place on the La Liga rankings, just one point behind Atletico Madrid, while they are 2 points ahead of great rival Barcelona and still have a match left to play.
Coach Anceloti’s team will have more than 10 days to rest before entering the first match of the new year 2025 with a trip to Valencia’s stadium. The match takes place at 3:00 a.m. on January 4.