Real Madrid 4-1 Sevilla: Madrid Keep the Pressure On at the Bernabéu

Real Madrid 4-1 Sevilla: Madrid Keep the Pressure On at the Bernabéu

Real Madrid beat Sevilla 4-1 at the Santiago Bernabéu on Sunday, a two-goal burst either side of half-time turning Round 9's closing fixture into a comfortable home win. The three points keep Madrid third in LaLiga on 21 points from nine games — one behind Atlético Madrid and six behind a Barcelona side that has won all nine — while Sevilla stay sixth on 14.

The pattern of the evening was set long before the scoreboard settled. Madrid led 2-0 at the interval through a first half they controlled, and when the teams returned, the home side scored twice more inside a relentless opening to the second period. Sevilla pulled a goal back as the game opened up, but the response had already been decisive: by the time the visitors found any footing, the result was beyond them.

It extends a head-to-head record that has become one of LaLiga's most lopsided rivalries. Sevilla have now failed to beat Real Madrid in any of their last 14 league meetings — 12 Madrid wins and two draws across that span — and the most recent encounter, a 1-0 Madrid win in Andalusia in May 2026, went the way of so many before it. On Sunday's evidence, the gap has not narrowed.

For Madrid, the significance is in the standings rather than the scoreline. Barcelona's perfect start shows no cracks, so the champions-elect's nearest challengers can afford nothing but wins while the leaders keep theirs. This was a fourth victory in five league games for Madrid, whose form line now reads won-won-lost-won-won, and it came with the attacking assurance of a side that has now scored 23 goals in nine rounds — the most potent attack in the division outside Catalonia.

Sevilla's problem is the other end of that form line. A promising stretch — four wins and a draw in a seven-game span through September — had lifted them into the European conversation, but defeats either side of the international window leave them sixth, clinging to the Conference League qualification place and only three points clear of the mid-table congestion. A trip to the Bernabéu was always the hardest test of that run; the manner of it, four conceded and little sustained resistance after the break, is the real concern.

Madrid, third and within touching distance of the summit places that matter in May, now turn to the fixtures that will define their autumn. Barcelona look untouchable at the top on 27 points, but Real Madrid — 36 titles and counting — have made a career of being close enough to pounce when the leaders wobble. Sunday was a reminder that they intend to be.

Match report by Núria Salvat, OneLightScore LaLiga correspondent. Cover image from the OneLightScore platform library; reusable licence.