Real Madrid seek momentum before Clasico as Sevilla visit Bernabeu

Real Madrid will aim to close the gap on La Liga leaders FC Barcelona when they host Sevilla FC at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday evening.

Jose Mourinho’s side are fourth in the table, six points behind Barcelona, while Sevilla are fifth after collecting 14 points from their opening eight matches. The fixture comes one week before the Clasico at Camp Nou, giving Real Madrid an opportunity to build momentum ahead of that meeting.

Real Madrid recovered from a difficult position in the Champions League on Wednesday, overturning a 3-1 deficit to beat AS Roma 4-3 in the Italian capital. The result took their league-phase tally in the European competition to six points.

In La Liga, Real Madrid also won their most recent home match, defeating Villarreal 1-0. That followed a positive response to the 2-1 defeat by Atletico de Madrid immediately before the international break.

The match is also their final league game before a Champions League meeting with RB Leipzig on 21 October. Mourinho’s players will therefore be looking to maintain their pace during a demanding period.

Sevilla arrive with more rest after drawing 3-3 with Levante on Monday. Luis Garcia Plaza’s team have made an encouraging start to the campaign, recording four wins, two draws and two defeats. Their fifth-place position, only four points behind Real Madrid, represents a significant improvement on recent seasons, including their difficult 17th-place finish in 2024-2025.

However, Sevilla face a formidable historical record. Although they defeated Real Madrid twice in 2018, they have now gone 15 matches without a win against the capital club in all competitions, losing 13 of those encounters. Their last league victory at the Bernabeu came in December 2008.

Real Madrid’s La Liga form is V D V V D V, while their record in all competitions is V V V D V V. Sevilla’s league sequence is D N V V D N.

Real Madrid will be without Vinicius Junior for their next four league matches as he serves a suspension following his red card against Villarreal. Eder Militao, who has a muscle problem, Rodrygo, who has a knee injury, Ferland Mendy, who is suffering from a hip issue, and Raul Asencio, with a leg injury, are also unavailable.

Endrick and Carlos Espi, both successful substitutes against AS Roma, are expected to begin on the bench again. Yan Diomande is likely to move to the left side of the attack, with Arda Guler on the right. Dean Huijsen is set to return in central defence.

Sevilla remain without Marcao, Jon Guridi and Miguel Sierra because of muscle, adductor and shoulder injuries respectively. Isaac Romero is suspended after being sent off against Levante. Robbie Ure, 22, scored his first goal for the Andalusian club in that match and is expected to lead the attack, supported by Youssouf Fofana, who has impressed in midfield this season.

The predicted line-ups are:

Real Madrid: Courtois; Dumfries, Konate, Huijsen, Cucurella; Valverde, Tchouameni; Guler, Bellingham, Diomande; Mbappe.

Sevilla: Vlachodimos; Iglesias, Castrin, Salas, Suazo; Agoume; Ejuke, Kochorashvili, Fofana, Correia; Ure.

Sevilla have enough quality to trouble Real Madrid, but the home side’s current momentum and unbeaten historical record against the Andalusian club at the Bernabeu point towards a 3-1 victory. The listed odds are 1.50 for a Real Madrid win with more than 2.5 goals, 1.45 for Kylian Mbappe to score and 8.50 for a 3-1 scoreline.