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Three talking points ahead of Sevilla vs Real Madrid | La Liga MD 37
Real Madrid bounced back with a 2-0 win over Real Oviedo midweek and did so with a relatively convincing performance – something they have not delivered in a long time.
The win came a bit too late in the context that the La Liga title was already decided by then, but Real Madrid will take the positive result regardless and look to keep that momentum going until the end of the season.
Tomorrow evening, Los Blancos play their penultimate game of the season as they lock horns with Sevilla away from home. Los Nervionenses are currently 11th on the points table and have 12 wins in 36 games.
Their recent form, however, has been impressive as they are on a run of three straight wins and Real Madrid will have to be at their very best once again if they are to dent the hosts’ momentum.
Madrid Universal brings you three talking points ahead of Sevilla vs Real Madrid.
The Arbeloa-Mbappe rift
There is only one place to start the preview of Real Madrid’s next game, and it is at the cliffhanger where the previous one ended.
At a time when news from Real Madrid’s camp is growing increasingly bizarre by the day, the post-match reaction after the game against Real Oviedo came as a shock to many for it was not anything one could imagine.
Kylian Mbappe gave an interview in the mixed zone where he pointed fingers at Alvaro Arbeloa, claiming the manager placed him fourth on the pecking order.
The Real Madrid forward claimed that the club lost its structure and foundation in the second half of the season and even openly stated that he does not even listen to the manager’s press conferences.
Arbeloa maintained in his press conference that followed that he had simply started Mbappe on the bench because he was unfit to start El Clasico just days ago, and pushing him directly into a starting berth was unwarranted.
The fire between the two parties continues to burn and it is clear that the manager and the player do not see eye to eye anymore.
The big question, however, is whether Arbeloa will stamp his authority one more time before leaving by keeping Mbappe on the bench, or whether he will let bygones be bygones start the player.
Playing for two managers
Tomorrow, it will be Arbeloa’s team that steps out on the field to take on Sevilla, and the men in white will be listening to the commands of the manager on the sidelines.
He will, however, not be the manager they will largely play to impress, for it is clear at this point that Jose Mourinho will return to take over the reins at the club in the summer.
It will, thus, be a queer situation where Los Blancos play for two managers – one who will be on the sidelines and one who is set to arrive shortly.
Real Madrid are heading for a generational change in the summer, as the board has had enough of the dressing room’s attitude, internal rifts, and politics.
It will, thus, likely be a ruthless summer and no single player can consider themselves safe at this point – not even the superstars in the team.
The objective for every individual tomorrow, thus, will be to impress the incoming manager and stake a claim to a place in his project. After all, a big part of the decisions taken by him in the summer may well be linked to their performances in the next two games.
Will Carvajal get his flowers?
The clash against Sevilla tomorrow will be Real Madrid’s second-to-last game of the 2025-26 campaign and their last game away from home this season.
As the official end of the season nears, it also signals the end of the road for some players as it does every season. This time, however, it appears to be a legend who is on the same crossroads – Dani Carvajal.
The Spaniard has not had it easy since his knee injury which kept him out for a season, and while he was largely fit in the second half of the campaign, Arbeloa never showed any fondness for his services.
So far this season, the 34-year-old has made just eight league starts and 15 appearances and has played just over 50 minutes even in his last four games for the club.
While not officially confirmed, it now appears understood that Carvajal will be leaving in the summer after the club decided against renewing his deal. It will thus be interesting to see if he merits a start in the next two games.
Arbeloa may have his differences with the veteran, but it is undeniable that Carvajal is a legend of the club and the game. With no real objectives left in the campaign, there appears to be no real reason for him not to get his flowers with a start tomorrow.
The festival called the UEFA Champions League returned to the Santiago Bernabeu last night as Los Blancos hosted Inter Milan in their very first game in the competition this season.
Jose Mourinho had massive selection dilemmas in midfield, and eventually opted to start Trent Alexander-Arnold alongside Federico Valverde in the absence of Arda Guler, Bernardo Silva and Eduardo Camavinga.
That experiment did not work out, and Real Madrid consistently lost the midfield battle on the night. Yet, they managed to capitalise on moments of individual brilliance and hold on to a 2-1 win to register their biggest win of the season yet.
Madrid Universal brings you three takeaways from Real Madrid 2-1 Inter Milan.
Two lucky goals
Real Madrid did not take long to go 2-0 up against Inter Milan last night, but that had more to do with the visitors’ sloppy defence rather than Los Blancos’ brilliance.
The men in white started the game pressing well, but Inter Milan looked very shaky in possession. They made two errors in the first 20 minutes, and Real Madrid capitalised and converted both.
Kylian Mbappe’s opener came off a moment of mayhem between Inter Milan’s defenders where the ball was left in no man’s land. Brahim Diaz pounced on it and played it through to the French forward, who made no mistake.
Minutes later, Federico Valverde directly dispossessed the goalkeeper with his press and deflected the ball into the back of the net, making it 2-0. Those were the only goals Los Blancos scored on the night.
While there is nothing wrong with capitalising on defensive errors and using that to lay the foundation for the win, the fact remains that Real Madrid were largely unimpressive throughout the 90 minutes. Inter Milan committing those errors, needless to say, was lucky for Real Madrid who rode on them to take three points.
Thibaut Courtois saves the day
Despite Real Madrid taking an early lead and even having the home advantage, it was Inter Milan who dominated large parts of the game and kept the lion’s share of possession.
At one point, it looked like Jose Mourinho’s men did not even bother having possession as they sat back and defended, hoping to break on the counter and convert.
That plan, needless to say, led to Inter Milan seeing a lot of the Real Madrid goal and putting serious pressure on the hosts’ defence.
Dean Huijsen, Ibrahima Konate and Marc Cucurella all had strong games at the back, but in the end, it was Thibaut Courtois who saved the day for Los Blancos.
The Belgian goalkeeper made a staggering seven saves for his side on the night including two from inside the box. Inter Milan’s finishing was indeed poor, but Courtois’ greatness stood out and ensured Real Madrid held on to their tight lead.
If not for the veteran goalkeeper, Mourinho’s men could well be staring at defeat. Their performance, after all, was unimpressive and Inter Milan had some big chances to equalise denied by Courtois.
Three massive points
The team’s performance against Inter Milan was not convincing, and that will be something for Mourinho to dig into and look to improve.
What Real Madrid will be pleased about, however, is taking all three points away from the night, for they are absolutely massive from the point of view of the competition.
Inter Milan represented one of Real Madrid’s biggest challenges in the league phase of the UEFA Champions League alongside Arsenal, and to take three points from one of their two elite opponents is worth its weight in gold.
They still have Arsenal, PSV Eindhoven, RB Leipzig, LASK Linz, Roma, Shakhtar Donetsk and AEK Athens to come, and Real Madrid will back themselves against most of the teams in that list.
Taking three points in one of their two most difficult games will go a long way in tying them down to a top-8 finish if they can win the easier clashes while also handing them some leeway for a potential defeat at some stage in the competition.
