Real Madrid Go Top Of La Liga After Sevilla Win, Atletico Beaten At Eibar
19th January 2020
Karim Benzema, Sergio Ramos and Eden Hazard were all absent at the Santiago Bernabeu but Casemiro stepped up in their place
- Real Madrid started without their top scorer, captain and record signing on Saturday but claimed a scrappy 2-1 win over Sevilla that sent them above Barcelona and top of La Liga
- His first double as a Real player proved the difference amid a three-goal flurry in the second half, during which Luuk de Jong had briefly pulled Sevilla level
- Atletico put in two of their best showings of the season at the Spanish Super Cup but any hopes of a boost were dashed at Ipurua, where Eibar secured a deserved win
MADRID, Spain- Real
Madrid started without their top scorer, captain and record signing on Saturday
but claimed a scrappy 2-1 win over Sevilla that sent them above Barcelona and
top of La Liga.
Karim Benzema, Sergio Ramos and Eden Hazard were all absent
at the Santiago Bernabeu but Casemiro stepped up in their place.
His first double as a Real player proved the difference amid
a three-goal flurry in the second half, during which Luuk de Jong had briefly
pulled Sevilla level.
"Two goals for him is very unusual," said Real
Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane.
His team were largely underwhelming, at times reverting to
the stodgy days of last season when they struggled for goals under Julen
Lopetegui, who was this time in the dug-out of Sevilla.
Yet given those missing, the opposition and the performance,
this might be the kind of victory that could prove crucial to Madrid winning
the title in May.
"It makes the win even more important," said
Zidane. "It's only three points but we needed them and we got them by
suffering."
Sevilla stay fourth, eight points off the top while Atletico
Madrid in third are now the same margin behind after falling to a surprise 2-0
loss away at Eibar.
Barca can reclaim first place on Sunday by beating Granada
at Camp Nou, where Quique Setien will be overseeing his debut game since being
appointed coach early last week.
Setien has said he will not be satisfied if his team win
while playing badly, but Zidane is likely to be less choosy.
His side are now 17 games unbeaten, a streak that included
them winning the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia last weekend.
Ramos, who is still recovering from an ankle injury, paraded
the club's latest trophy on the pitch before kick-off.
Benzema came on in the second half after shaking off a dead
leg but Ramos and Hazard need more time to recover.
Gareth Bale was not even in the squad, despite training on
Friday. Bale missed the trip to Jeddah through illness.
"He picked up a knock the other day," said Zidane.
"Only because of that."
- Sevilla struggle for goals -
Lopetegui was back at the Santiago Bernabeu for the first
time since he was sacked by Real last season, 138 days after they appointed
him.
"I haven't even stopped to think about it,"
Lopetegui said. "The only emotion I wanted to feel is to win here."
His Sevilla side arguably deserved more too but converting
impetus into goals has been their problem all season, and so it proved again.
De Jong thought he had scored when he was given a suspicious
amount of space in the area to head in from a corner and VAR showed his marker
Eder Militao had been blocked, albeit only by a small, but seemingly
deliberate, step from Nemanja Gudelj.
Marcelo was lucky not to concede a penalty for a shirt-pull.
Sevilla were controlling the midfield and denying their
opponents routes through to the front three. Yet 12 minutes into the second
half, some creative brilliance saw the hosts take the lead.
Sergio Reguilon, bought by Sevilla from Real Madrid last
year, scuffed his clearance and after Casemiro muscled through on the edge of
the area, Luka Jovic found him again with a deft backheel. Casemiro chipped the
ball in and pointed at Jovic in celebration.
Sevilla could have wilted but instead they equalised, only
to concede again five minutes later.
First, Raphael Varane, Casemiro and Marcelo all missed
tackles and after Munir El Haddadi stumbled, De Jong took over, banging the
ball into the far corner.
Yet parity was short-lived as Casemiro nodded in Lucas
Vazquez's cross from a standing start after being given too much space by Jules
Kounde.
Toni Kroos might have added a third for Madrid late on and
Vazquez almost gifted Sevilla an equaliser after a dreadful backpass. Youssef
En-Nesyri, signed from Leganes on Friday, flashed wide.
Atletico put in two of their best showings of the season at
the Spanish Super Cup but any hopes of a boost were dashed at Ipurua, where
Eibar secured a deserved win.
Esteban Burgos tapped in at the back post after 10 minutes
before Edu Exposito's drive in the 90th sealed it for Eibar and left Atletico
even further adrift.