Mbappé double and Güler goal give Real Madrid 4-1 win over Sevilla before Clásico

Real Madrid beat Sevilla 4-1 at the Santiago Bernabéu on Sunday night, with Arda Güler, Kylian Mbappé (twice) and Yan Diomande scoring before Manu Bueno pulled one back for the visitors. The win lifts Madrid to 18 points from eight games, fourth in LaLiga and nine behind leaders Barcelona, who have played nine.

A first half that settled it

José Mourinho's side played without the suspended Vinícius Júnior, and the changes worked. According to Relevo, Fede Valverde returned at right-back, Dean Huijsen came back into the defence, Güler took the creative role in midfield, Diomande replaced Vinícius on the left and Endrick played on the right.

The night could have gone differently around the 22nd minute. Sevilla's Peque grabbed Güler, who shook his arm free and saw the Sevilla player go down. The VAR reviewed it and nothing was given, so Güler avoided what Cadena SER described as his second red card in a Madrid shirt.

Madrid then scored twice before the break. Güler finished with his left foot from the edge of the area after a move through Jude Bellingham and Diomande, his 15th LaLiga goal for the club, according to Cadena SER. Mbappé made it 2-0 soon after: Bellingham back-heeled the ball to him, and he turned his marker with a roulette before beating Sevilla goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos with a second one. Marca called it possibly his best goal for Madrid, an answer to the goal Lamine Yamal scored against Betis a day earlier.

Panenka, a mistake and a fourth

After the hour Mbappé won a penalty, awarded by referee Busquets Ferrer, and scored it with a Panenka for 3-0. Mundo Deportivo reported that Sevilla protested the decision. By Marca's count it was his 11th goal of the season in 11 games in all competitions, and his 97th for Madrid.

Sevilla, coached by Luis García Plaza, grew into the game in the second half. Cadena SER says Bueno scored with a left-footed shot to the far post after a pressing Sevilla won the ball from a Mbappé error in build-up. The reply came in less than five minutes: Diomande beat Vlachodimos from the left for his second LaLiga goal for Madrid, in consecutive league games.

Opta, quoted by Relevo, noted that Diomande, aged 19 years and 338 days, is the first Madrid player under 20 to score and assist in the same LaLiga match this century. The previous mark belonged to Jude Bellingham, at 20 years and 51 days.

What it changes

The result keeps Madrid in touch after Barcelona won 5-2 at Betis and Atlético won 1-0 at Espanyol on Saturday. Atlético are second on 22 points, Betis third on 19, and Madrid, with a game in hand on all three, are fourth on 18. Sevilla, on 14 points from eight games, stay sixth.

The Bernabéu also made a point before kick-off: a banner read "No es fútbol, son Tebas y Negreira", a reference to LaLiga president Javier Tebas's comparison of Real Madrid TV with Nazi-era propaganda, reported by Cadena SER. Madrid's next league game is the Clásico against Barcelona, which Cadena SER says is round the corner.