Real Madrid Player Ratings vs Sevilla: 8/10 for Rodrygo, Carvajal; Camavinga gets 5

Rodrygo, Nacho and Karim Benzema were the heroes as Real Madrid came back from two goals down to defeat Sevilla 3-2 in La Liga on Sunday.

Real Madrid started brightly at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan and had early control of the proceedings. Los Blancos even had a penalty claim turned down when Sevilla goalkeeper Bono flapped at the ball, diverting it onto the arm of teammate Diego Carlos. But the referee did not blow the whistle, and soon after, the hosts broke the deadlock in the 21st minute through Ivan Rakitic’s freekick.

Four minutes later, Sevilla were two goals in front as Erik Lamela bundled home after some shoddy defending from the visitors. The home team managed to keep the league leaders at bay for the rest of the first half but looked shaky after the break. And substitute Rodrygo Goes made an immediate impact for Real Madrid, netting the ball past Bono after latching on to a pass from Dani Carvajal in the 50th minute.

Real Madrid should have been on level terms a little after the hour mark when Vinicius Junior found the back of the net after receiving a cross from Lucas Vazquez. However, bizarrely, the referee chalked the goal off for handball even though it was clear that the Brazilian had chested down the cross.

Fired up by the decision, Real Madrid upped the ante in the final quarter of the game and reinstated parity in the 82nd minute through substitute Nacho Fernandez, with Carvajal getting the assist again. The drama was far from being over, though, as two minutes into stoppage time, Karim Benzema stepped up for his team and swept home a finish from within the box to secure a last-ditch comeback win for Madrid.

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Real Madrid yet again displayed great grit and determination to come back from a difficult situation after having endured a difficult first half. The victory sees them stretch their lead at the top to 15 points, although that could reduce to 12 should Barcelona beat Cadiz on Monday. Here are our player ratings for Carlo Ancelotti’s men after a hard-fought, thrilling victory in Seville.

Real Madrid Player Ratings

Thibaut Courtois: 6/10

There was little that the Belgian international could do to stop either of Sevilla’s goals on the night. Apart from those moments, Courtois was never really called into action much but showed good command and authority in his box.

Lucas Vazquez: 6.5/10

Slotting in at right-back, Vazquez took upon the responsibility of providing width moving forward as Federico Valverde tended to move into central positions. The Spaniard did well going forward, and even though there were a few issues defensively, he stuck it out and finished with six tackles and two interceptions.

Eder Militao: 4/10

Back into the lineup after missing the midweek assignment against Chelsea due to suspension, Militao was all over the place against Sevilla. The Brazilian bizarrely decided to break the defensive wall for Rakitic’s freekick. The Brazilian also made a mistake leading up to the second goal. To be fair to him, Militao did improve after the break, but a poor first half almost cost his team the result.

David Alaba: 7/10

Unlike his defensive partner, Alaba enjoyed quite a solid and assured outing in Andalusia. The Austrian read the game well and made several key interventions to keep Rafa Mir at bay. At the same time, he was also sharp with his usage of the ball, playing line-breaking forward passes regularly.

Dani Carvajal: 8/10

Slotting in at left-back in the absence of Ferland Mendy and Marcelo, the Spaniard did not look out of place in the makeshift position even though there were a few difficult moments in the first half. Carvajal charged down the flank regularly and provided good support to Vinicius. The veteran full-back then got the assists for Rodrygo and Nacho’s goals to help Real Madrid make it 2-2. He was solid at the back too.

Luka Modric: 6/10

A dip in performance levels from Real Madrid’s midfield mainstay compared to his display against Chelsea. The veteran midfielder endured a difficult first half when he was sloppy on the ball at times and gave away the freekick from which Rakitic scored. He improved after the break, looked more assured and created a couple of half-chances before being taken off.

Toni Kroos: 6/10

Like Modric, Kroos, too, endured a rough opening period. Slotting in as the deepest of the three midfielders in Casemiro’s absence, the German struggled to cope with the waves of Sevilla attacks. However, he showed massive improvements with time and began to dictate the flow of the game with his passing as the game wore on, helping Real Madrid mount a comeback.

Eduardo Camavinga: 5/10

The youngster was given a starting berth with Casemiro unavailable. While he showed good energy, Camavinga was a bit reckless at times, which earned him a booking early in the game. He could have been sent off for another risky challenge on Anthony Martial not long after. As a result, Ancelotti decided to take him off at half-time.

Federico Valverde: 6/10

Started on the right flank but moved centrally regularly before settling into the midfield after Camavinga’s substitution. Valverde could not impose himself on the proceedings a great deal but still worked hard to help Real Madrid retake control in the second half.

Karim Benzema: 7/10

Real Madrid’s MVP endured a quiet first half as he was starved of meaningful service. Things began to look up for Benzema in the second period as he came close to scoring on a few occasions before finally grabbing the late winner to send the fans into a tizzy. Once again, cometh the hour, cometh the man.

Vinicius Junior: 7/10

The Real Madrid winger had a poor first half like most of his teammates but livened up after the break and started causing a lot of problems to the Sevilla defence. Vinicius combined with Carvajal in the lead-up to the first goal for Los Blancos. He then had a goal harshly ruled out for a handball. The Brazilian also had a hand in the match-winner.

SUBSTITUTES

Rodrygo Goes: 8/10

The Brazilian came on for Camavinga at half-time, slotting in on the right flank. Rodrygo got into the thick of things almost immediately after stepping onto the pitch as he scored the first goal for Real Madrid to kickstart the comeback. He was a thorn in the side for Sevilla with his movement in the final third and got the assist for the match-winning goal.

Marco Asensio: 5/10

Asensio barely made an impact after replacing Modric in the 81st minute.

Nacho: 7/10

Nacho came on for Vazquez in the 81st minute and scored the second goal within seconds after being sent in.

Mariano Diaz: N/A

Stoppage-time sub for Benzema.