Real Madrid now have a three-team title race to worry about with Atletico Madrid currently above them in the table with the same number of games played, so Sunday’s battle against Sevilla is that much bigger for the Merengues after they dropped points to local rivals Rayo Vallecano last week.
Although Sevilla are in the bottom half of the table and won’t be playing at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, the 2022/23 Europa League champions still have enough pedigree and defensive grit to potentially upset the defending LaLiga champions.
Before Sunday’s big game at the Santiago Bernabeu, let’s take a look at the three most important keys to victory for Real Madrid.
Turn possession into chances
Real Madrid are going to have the lion’s share of the possession against Sevilla with Antonio Rudiger and Aurelien Tchouameni as the center back pairing behind a dominant midfield trio of Fede Valverde, Jude Bellingham, and Luka Modric that should be able to wipe the floor with any midfield on this planet.
So Real Madrid aren’t going to be hurting in positional dominance. The issue will be turning all their possession and promising field position in the final third into tangible, high-quality chances.
And I’m not talking about key passes either. There are so many times when teams – and Real Madrid have been very much in this over the past few years – create chances on paper that are not actually great goal-scoring opportunities.
Real Madrid need their wingers and midfielders to take risks with their passing and make runs that clear out space for the primary goal-scorers, which, in this game, will be Kylian Mbappe due to Vinicius Junior’s suspension.
Sevilla are going to take the strategy of sitting back, absorbing pressure, and trying to hit Real Madrid on the counter. So for Madrid, the name of the game will be gambling on goals instead of falling in the 2020/21 Real Madrid trap of pinging it around the edge of the penalty box uselessly.
Kylian Mbappe needs to win his battles
The time has come for Kylian Mbappe to break out of his shell, and after scoring goals in wins over Atalanta and Pachuca, there is real optimism that the 25-year-old Frenchman is on the verge of a breakout.
He’s actually on the cusp of 10 LaLiga goals already, which is an accomplishment that ranks him fourth in the league in goals scored. Mbappe, though, has underwhelmed in comparison to his ability when looking at the chances he has missed.
But the biggest problem is that Mbappe isn’t creating enough of his own chances off the dribble. He’s not beating defenders with the same gusto one-on-one that he was for the French national team a few years back or in Ligue 1 at the peak of his powers at PSG.
Mbappe had those issues last season in Paris, too, which led to some concern around Ligue 1 pundits. Now, those concerns are magnified on a much bigger stage with Real Madrid in the midst of another thrilling LaLiga title race.
Sevilla don’t have the most accomplished fullbacks in defense, but they do have a great French center back in Loic Bade, who presents a great test for Mbappe off that left side with Vini Jr. out.
The Real Madrid superstar needs to play like one on Sunday, because Sevilla aren’t going to give Madrid much space to work with. For years, signing Mbappe was presented as the solution to definitively dominating low blocks or the most defensive sides in LaLiga, of which Sevilla are certainly among, especially when they face the league’s biggest club.
It’s time for Mbappe to step up and show Madridistas he is indeed everything they dreamed of. Particularly with Vinicius Jr. unavailable, Mbappe will be the one counted on as a matchwinner, and he needs to bring that something special when penetrating the penalty area.
Don’t let Dodi Lukebakio shoot
Sevilla don’t have many attacking threats and actually have fewer goals scored than four other teams below them in the bottom half of the LaLiga table, so Dodi Lukebakio’s 7 goals are that much more meaningful to the Nervionenses.
Real Madrid have an issue with facing lesser teams that have a key goal-scorer from wide positions who can be lethal in transitions. They struggle against shooting wingers who have great athleticism, and the Belgian fits the bill here.
Lukebakio is legitimately one of the best wingers in LaLiga, and as a left-footed player off the right, he will be licking his lips at the somewhat shaky pairing of Fran Garcia and Antonio Rudiger on the left side of the Real Madrid defense.
Rudiger isn’t a bad center back, but he has issues with staying alert off the ball while Fran struggles mightily in one-on-ones against stronger competition within LaLiga.
Real Madrid can’t afford to give Lukebakio clear-cut shooting opportunities, especially in transition. Marking Lukebakio needs to be a focal point of Carlo Ancelotti’s defensive gameplan, as he’s the one guy who could actually hurt Real enough to force a Sevilla upset victory on the road.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He covered Real Madrid from 2019-2022 for The Real Champs as a site manager. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.