Pre-match reports

LET'S MAINTAIN THE RECENT RUN AGAINST MADRID AND TAKE A BIG STEP FORWARD

26/09/2018

Madrid are coming to one of the pitches where they have the least success, with no league wins in the past three seasons. After the two big wins, Machín will be putting his players to the test physically

An especially motivating night is here for all Sevillistas. From 22:00 CEST the ball will get rolling in one of those grand La Liga games, Sevilla FC-Real Madrid which comes at a perfect moment for Pablo Machín and his team. After the two consecutive routs against Standard Liege and Levante, Sevilla certainly won't be lacking in moral, knowing they can get their teeth into Julen Lopetegui's team, the champions of Europe.

And the circumstances were similar for Madrid's last visits to Nervión, with them failing to win a match. The fans will undoubtedly play their part, with the team from the Spanish capital knowing what it's like having to deal with the eleven on the pitch and over 40,000 in the stands. Both short- and mid-term statistics of Madrid's record in Sevilla's stadium demonstrate this, with them not picking up a win here since May 2015. Since then they have come to the Sánchez-Pizjuán four times, picking up one draw - in the Copa del Rey and at the end of the game - and three defeats in their last three games here. When compared with Madrid's other statistics of losing away from home, the numbers speak for themselves.

Three of Madrid's last seven away defeats have come in Nervión

In the last three full seasons and the current season - 59 matches - Real Madrid has lost a total of seven away games in La Liga. Of those seven, three have come at Sevilla's ground. That can't be just luck, with Sevilla seeming to have got the measure of their opponent in the Sánchez-Pizjuán. It's true that was against a different Real Madrid, one with Cristiano Ronaldo, but they are no less dangerous. Even so, neither did Sevilla follow the same script in their wins, since the three wins came under three different managers - Unai Emery, Jorge Sampaoli and Joaquín Caparrós.

The then manager and current Director of Football visited training at the Ciudad Deportiva this Tuesday to have a close-up view of the team's evolutions, given the importance of the game. Pablo Machín will be tasked with finding the right plan and using the right players to secure the win. In the little that could be deciphered from his words in the press conference, everything seems to point to that the manager won't use all of his attacking options from the first minute, although it's difficult to imagine a starting eleven without the in-form Ben Yedder, with five goals in the last two games.

Everything points to that there will be rotation, but with an in-form Ben Yedder in attack

It's hard to imagine that there won't be changes in the team, who only three days ago put in a tremendous effort it the Ciudad de Valencia. The wing-backs, an attacking midfielder and maybe a centre-back could be most likely to be rotated, since the midfield is running low on substitutes. Real Madrid, for their part, have important injuries with Carvajal and Isco, who was immediately operated on Tuesday for appendicitis-

It will be one of those great nights in Nervión, with a packed-out stadium and a temperature that, finally and even more so by kick-off, seems to be reducing. Regarding the officials, after a game without controversy in the Ciudad de Valencia, the Canarian Alejandro Hernández will be officiating. Let's hope that the focus will be on the players in white.. and red.