On Sunday night, Real Madrid will travel to one of the most difficult stadiums in LaLiga to take on Sevilla on Matchday 32. The Merengues are coming off an intense battle with Chelsea in the Champions League, barely surviving a comeback attempt from Thomas Tuchel’s side at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Despite the grueling match, Real will be considered the favorites against Sevilla, who were formerly tough title contenders in LaLiga. Sevilla still are very much in the race, though, so Los Blancos won’t want to take their foot off the gas.
Here are the three biggest keys to victory for Real Madrid this Sunday vs. Sevilla at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.
Real Madrid must play with intensity
You can always bank on Julen Lopetegui’s Sevilla bringing nothing but their “A” game. This is a tough, physical team that is willing to get nasty, and they have some great athletes, particularly at the forward positions and at center back.
Real Madrid need to be at their 100 percent. They cannot show any weakness or sluggishness despite coming off such a difficult 120 minutes against Chelsea. Sevilla will make them pay for any hesitancy or for not being in the battles. Look for the battle in midfield to be especially key, with Eduardo Camavinga needing to step up the most in Casemiro’s absence due to suspension.
Don’t forget about Rafa Mir
Madridistas certainly remember how well Rafa Mir played against them last season at Huesca, and the striker remains in LaLiga after Monchi astutely snapped him up from Wolves for cheap. Mir doesn’t start every game for Sevilla, but he is expected to start this one.
The strong and fast forward has scored nine times this season, and while he doesn’t do anything else but score, he is such a danger man both in and out of the box. How many times did we see Real Madrid fail to mark him properly last season at Huesca in transition? He has the quality to make defenses pay by scoring from distance, too.
And of course, he scored against Los Blancos in their meeting earlier this season. With the way Real were defending, he could have scored even more. They had better not forget about him this Sunday at the Sanchez Pijzuan, or he will make the Merengue defense – sans Ferland Mendy due to injury – pay.
Let Vinicius Jr. run the show
Rafa Mir wasn’t the only standout when Real Madrid last faced Sevilla. The hero of the night was Vinicius Jr., who scored an exceptional goal to rescue the full three points for the Merengues at the Santiago Bernabeu. Vini seems to truly come alive in front of the home fans, but Real will have to hope he can play just as well against Sevilla at the Sanchez Pizjuan. Though as we saw against Mallorca, even the most hostile away crowds cannot throw off Vini Jr.
There will be chances out there for the left winger against Sevilla, noting that right back Jesus Navas is more of the attacking type. Vinicius’ dribbling skills, nonstop work-rate, improved creativity, and newfound goal-scoring capabilities will all be vital in getting into the box and unlocking the excellent center back duo of Jules Kounde and Diego Carlos.
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As has been the case so often this season, getting Vini Jr. on the ball and enabling him to execute one-on-ones and find the space to show off his end product will be the biggest key to a Real Madrid victory.