Real Madrid vs. Sevilla: 3 possible X-Factors on La Liga’s Matchday 35

The battle of the goalkeepers

Real Madrid and Sevilla have two of the best-performing goalkeepers not just in La Liga, but in all of Europe’s top five leagues this season.

Belgian sensation Thibaut Courtois is still first among all keepers in the top five in save percentage, stopping 82.2 percent of all shots faced, per FBRef.com. Yassine Bounou of Sevilla, who has been one of the biggest breakout stars of the season in any league, is third with 79.1 percent of his shots saved.

The duo are even closer together in goals allowed per 90 minutes. Courtois is fifth in Europe’s top five with 0.71 goals allowed per 90, while Bono is sixth with 0.73 allowed.

We’ve seen Courtois keep Real in games with massive saves in pretty much every game over the past couple of months, and Sunday night should be no different. Sevilla are a very good side. But Bono is also very capable of robbing the likes of Karim Benzema of their goals, given how difficult he’s been to beat this season. Bono has the advantage of having a full-strength defense in front of him, too, with Jules Kounde and Diego Carlos forming their own stalwart center back partnership.

Goalkeepers are sometimes footnotes in the storylines going into games, but Bono and Courtois should be front and center.