Real Madrid thrash Sevilla 4-1 at the Bernabéu behind Mbappé brace

Arda Güler collected the ball off a counterattack, took a touch to set himself up just outside the box, and curled a left-footed finish into the top corner. That goal, in the 29th minute, opened the door to a rout that finished 4-1 in Real Madrid's favor at the Bernabéu, with Sevilla holding on for only a few minutes before the match slipped away from them entirely.

Real Madrid's control was obvious from the opening whistle, though the first half took a while to produce its first goal. There were early chances for Robbie Ure on Sevilla's side and missed shots from Mbappé, Endrick and Yan Diomande, all signs that the home side's pressure was constant. Once Güler's opener went in, the game shifted gears: seven minutes later, in the 36th, Kylian Mbappé finished from point-blank range with his left foot off a Jude Bellingham assist to make it 2-0 at the break.

In the second half, Sevilla tried to respond with substitutions from Luis García, bringing on Ejuke and later Lucas Stassin and Manu Bueno, but Real Madrid was operating on another level. In the 60th minute, Andrés Castrín brought down Mbappé inside the box for a penalty, and the French forward made no mistake from the spot two minutes later to make it 3-0. Sevilla managed to put a better face on the scoreline in the 79th minute with a goal from Manu Bueno, assisted by Stassin, which briefly seemed to bring some tension back to the match. But the response was immediate: two minutes later, in the 81st, Yan Diomande, this time as the protagonist, struck a right-footed shot from outside the box into the top left corner off a pass from Aurélien Tchouaméni to seal the final 4-1.

The numbers behind the dominance

The stats reflect clearly what was seen on the field: Real Madrid controlled the ball and created more danger throughout the match.

As for the xG generated during the match, calculated after the fact based on shot location, Real Madrid racked up 2.00 against Sevilla's 1.39. Those numbers confirm the home side's greater offensive volume, though the final result ended up being more lopsided than those figures alone would suggest.

What the preview said and what happened

Before the match, our projection gave Real Madrid a 75% chance of victory, against a 16% chance of a draw and a 9% chance of a Sevilla win. In expected goals, the preview had pointed to 2.69 for the home side and 0.89 for Sevilla, for a total of 3.58. The final score, with four goals for Real Madrid and one for Sevilla, ended up lining up fairly well with that forecast: the home team's favorite status was confirmed without any real surprises, aside from the brief interruption caused by Manu Bueno's goal.

Where it leaves the table

In the LaLiga standings, Real Madrid came into this match in third place with 21 points from 9 games played (7 wins and 2 losses), while Sevilla sat sixth with 14 points from the same number of games (4 wins, 2 draws and 3 losses). The gap between the two sides before this match was 7 points, a distance that today's result only reinforces.

The match leaves clear takeaways: a Mbappé brace, one from the penalty spot, goals from Güler and Diomande, and a Sevilla side that could only pull one back in a closing stretch that had already arrived with the result essentially decided. For Real Madrid, a perfect afternoon at the Bernabéu; for Sevilla, confirmation that against opponents of this caliber, space comes at a steep price.