LaLiga 2018-19: Real Madrid 2-0 Sevilla | Five Talking Points

Real Madrid hosted Sevilla at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday. Both teams came into the game level on points, separated only by goal difference. Sevilla came into the game suffering a 2-0 loss to Athletic Bilbao, enabling Madrid to close down the gap and draw level. Real Madrid, on the other hand, came into the game with a hard-fought victory over Real Betis. Dani Ceballos' 88th-minute freekick snatched away the victory for Los Blancos.

In the previous meeting between the two sides, Sevilla thrashed Real Madrid 3-0 at home. Santiago Solari started with Sergio Reguilon in the left-back position and continued with the midfield duo of Ceballos and Modric. Pablo Machin went with a 5-3-2 lineup with Escudero and Jesus Navas as the attacking full-backs. Wissem Ben Yedder and Andre Silva, the two strikers up front.

Real Madrid got some early chances to score in the first half. Vinicius Junior and Benzema both had chances to open the scoring early but missed from suitable range. Sevilla steadied the ship through the half, stopping any dangerous attacks and came close to leading. Escudero put a shot wide of the near post from close-range.

Real Madrid continued to hold possession in the second half and began teeing off with Vaclik. Numerous chances went wasted but Casemiro's curling strike beat Vaclik's fingertips and went in. Luka Modric doubled the lead in added time, stealing the ball from the defense and going on to finish. Madrid is now in third-place in LaLiga, still five points behind Atletico and seven points away from Barcelona.

Here are five talking points from the game.

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#5 Sevilla played for a draw, ended up on the losing side

Modric's goal put the game out of Sevilla's reach. They were not decisive enough in the opposition half and hardly had an intent to attack.

In the first half, Real Madrid came out all guns blazing at Sevilla. However, the away side did manage to shake it off and steady the ship. Los Blancos was the one dominating possession but they did not find clear-cut opportunities at goal. Even when Sevilla had possession, they did not attempt to have a go at the defense. Their only attempt at goal was Escudero's attempt.

In the second half, Sevilla followed suit from the first half. They did not press for the ball, did not attempt to counter-attack, did not get the ball to forward positions and sat back. Vaclik was under tremendous pressure and Sevilla was always on the ropes. It was visible that Sevilla was playing for a draw and not for a win. Casemiro managed to beat the bus in the 78th minute with his long-range effort. Till then, Sevilla did not have even a bit of possession in the opposition half.

It is understandable that Sevilla wanted to salvage a draw but closing down the game without even attempting to counter-attack was a bad strategy.

#4 Isco benched again and substituted too late

Does Isco have a future at Real Madrid? He doesn't seem to be in the coach's plans right now

Isco has been struggling to get minutes under Santiago Solari. But what is his fault? He is not even getting sufficient time to express himself and now has to fight with Federico Valverde for a starting spot. Lucas Vazquez was hardly threatening in the game and was under par in the first half itself. Most of the creation came from the other wing or through Dani Carvajal's presence. Vazquez strayed wide and not near the box with the compact defense.

Isco came in when it was 77 minutes on the clock. His positioning was more near the box causing more problems to the defense. He looked good for the 10 minutes that he was on the pitch. But possibly he would be benched again. Isco was terribly needed, at least after Vazquez's sub-par performance and Sevilla's stubborn defending. Isco's creativity was missed in the game and Solari still prefers to keep him benched.

If it continues in this fashion, it is better for Isco to leave for another team who would value his presence more than his current team. He is just too good to be benched.

#3 Real Madrid's midfield superiority was decisive

Luka Modric with a scintillating display, hardly put a foot wrong

The midfield is the heart of the team, moreover, when you play possession football, midfield superiority and quality is decisive. Dani Ceballos, Luka Modric, and Casemiro were Real Madrid's three midfielders to start with. A look at Madrid's heat map would give us a clear idea about the positioning of these three. Casemiro pushed up to support both the midfielders as Modric and Ceballos guarded the left and right side.

Both Ceballos and Modric have to be credited for holding on to possession and dictating the play. Modric held 9.0% of possession while Ceballos held 9.8% of possession. Modric had Carvajal down his stretch and linked with him well. Ceballos had a good link-up with Vinicius on the left-hand side. Luka and Ceballos had a combined six dribbles and eight tackles as well.

Coming to passing accuracy, Ceballos had 90% (89/99) accuracy and Modric 86% (71/83). Both of them had a combined seven key-passes in the game. The high-tempo game of the midfield was supported well by the defense and wide players which brought Madrid success. Hopefully, they would continue in this way.

On the contrary, for the first time in a long time, Luka Modric actually played like a Ballon d'Or winner. Sergio Ramos' contribution should not be undermined. He had 15 ball retrievals before the half-time and pushed the defensive line high-up to help the midfield.

#2 Madrid's issues right now: Creativity and Finishing

Benzema has been poor in front of the goal lately. Real Madrid's finishing problems will haunt them against tough oppositions

Real Madrid had 23 attempted shots on goal. How many of them went in? Two. How many of them were on target? Six.

Los Vinkingos came up against a sturdy defense of Sevilla. We didn't see many occasions in which the defense was left behind, other than the obvious mistake from the defense leading to Modric's goal.

Most of their shots were from long range. This shows that Real Madrid had no lee-way into opposition's defense. The midfield created shot opportunities, that is visible from the key-pass count. But they didn't have even one through ball, not even one. If you are not going to thread through the defense, you are not likely to unlock the defense.

The finishing needs a lot of improvement. Benzema and Vinicius had seven shots among them and scored none. Their poor finishing forced their midfielders to shoot more often. Casemiro, Ceballos, and Modric had 14 shots among themselves. Poor finishing causes all these problems. Midfielders have to shoot themselves, taking their primary job away from them.

It did not hurt against Sevilla because they chose not to counter-attack. If there is counter-attacking from the opposition, midfielders in shooting positions would find it hard to track back.

#1 Vinicius Junior could be the next-big-thing

The Brazilian with yet another impressive performance. When will he run out of form?

A few eyebrows were raised when a hefty sum was paid in the summer for an unknown Brazilian Vinicius Junior. About six months into the club, Vinicius looks to be at home. The Brazilian really fires up the left-wing with his presence. He always looks tireless and keeps running into dangerous positions.

Vinicius looked good all through the game. He had five shots on goal, two of which were on target. He needs to improve on his finishing as he failed to put Real Madrid into an early lead. But he is a phenomenon on that left-wing. He completed four dribbles and made two-key passes. He successfully completed 39/49 attempted passes.

The exuberant Brazilian is in red-hot form right now. His only problem right now is his weak finishing ability and also holding on to possession. He was dispossessed five-times in the game.

However, he is paying testament to his fee through his performances and could develop into a bigger threat in the coming years.