#3 Benzema’s goalless streak
Benzema started the season in fine touch scoring two braces and looked all set to compensate for the loss of CR7. But as the season progressed, he seems to be completely missing from the pitch. In this game too, he was nowhere to be found and was rarely involved in attacking plays of his team.
He did not even bother to make a few runs into the opposition box hoping for a scoring opportunity. He looked bored on the pitch and it seemed like Lopetegui’s possession-based play has affected his natural game.
#4 Sevilla’s packed midfield
Lopetegui’s style relies a lot on midfielders retaining the ball for lengthy periods of time and Sevilla’s 5 man midfield provided them with a lot of problems as the ball was constantly taken away from Modric and Casemiro. Banega was at the centre of their crowded midfield and he did a great job by making pressing hard to get the ball back from the skilled Madrid midfielders.
Navas was outstanding on the right flank and made optimum use of the empty spaces left behind by Ramos and Marcelo to provide Andre Silva solid goal scoring opportunities.