LW Vinicius Junior
A standing ovation and chants throughout the Santiago Bernabeu. Vinicius Junior, the man of the hour once again. His winning goal was sublime. He took the first touch with his chest and started to cut inside, knowing exactly what he wanted to do. Smash the ball into the far corner with his right foot. And that is exactly what he did. Vinicius was swarmed by Sevilla players throughout the game and did not dominate as usual, but he never gave up. And in the end, the difference-maker made the difference. Beyond his goal, too, he made a number of important defensive interventions, showing the hard work he puts in despite being a superstar attacker.
Rating: 8.0
CF Karim Benzema
Karim Benzema had a solid match at the heart of the attack, even if his influence was not obvious on the stat sheet. The No. 9 did what a striker needs to do on the goal he scored, and, to be honest, we need to see more of that from all of Real Madrid’s forwards. Second-chance opportunities are huge. Beyond that, Benz’s work rate and link-up play were quite good. He was always trying to press the Sevilla center backs (and fullbacks) into errors, which became important as the second half wore on when Los Blancos were searching for the go-ahead goal.
Rating: 7.0
RW Marco Asensio
After a run of good performances, including a goal in last weekend’s win over Granada, Marco Asensio delivered a more subdued performance at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday night. Asensio had two good chances, one of which he worked for himself, but he was unable to hit the target on either occasion. The first chance really should have gone in. As a whole, Asensio had a subpar match, mostly because he just wasn’t involved with helping his teammates enough. Against a tough Sevilla side, Asensio was too much of a passenger. He could have made up for it by seizing on his two opportunities, but he failed to do so.
Rating: 5.0