Real Madrid 2 - 1 Sevilla: results, summary and goals

Peep peep peep!!! That's it. Madrid win 2-1! Sevilla had a VAR-disallowed goal on 30' and from there were the better side until Casemiro opened the scoring against the run of play on 57'. 

Sevilla quickly responded on 64' with a goal from Luuk De Jong, who had scored the disallowed goal in the first half, but Madrid were soon ahead again after Casemiro netted a second, this time with his head on 69'. 

Sevilla will feel a little hard done by the disallowed goal and had their fair share of chances to take something from what was an open and entertaining game. But they now take their Bernabéu losing streak to 13 games as Madrid move top of the table and three points clear of Barcelona, who play tomorrow. 

Three minutes added on here.

What a chance for Sevilla! Nesyri does well to beat Militao but then completely scuffs his shot. 

Vinicius does wonderfully again to beat Kounde down the left, before squaring a pass backwards towards Kroos, unmarked by the penalty area. That could have been three, but the German has struck his shot straight at the keeper. Vinicius has been excellent since coming on. 

Woosh!! Modric lets one rip from distance as the ball was cleared out of the Sevilla box. But his first time volley flies high and wide. That would have been the goal of the decade so far had it gone in. 

Vinicius does phenomenally, bursting down the left flank, beating Kounde once, before skipping around a second challenge and then playing a low cross into the box. It's a decent delivery but a Seville defender is first to it to clear the danger. 

Casemiro looking for a hat-trick!! But he drives his low volley wide of the far post. That really would have been something. He's still got time though. 

Madrid change as Mendy has come on for Marcelo. 

And the assist proves to be Jovic's last action of the game, as he makes way for Karim Benzema. Vinicius, meanwhile, has come on for Rodrygo, who's had a relatively quiet game. 

Sevilla break, turning defence into attack very quickly, before spreading the ball wide to the left. But the cross from Navas towards De Jong is collected by Courtois. 

Yellow card for Sevilla midfielder Banega for a bad challenge on Militao. 

Much like the final 20 minutes of the first half, Sevilla are in control here.

Casemiro comes back on after leaving the field of play to receive attention. Relief for Madrid.

Worrying sight as Casemiro is on the floor and receiving attention after a nasty challenge. 

Sevilla get the second half underway!

Spanish TV showing a clip of Reguilon trying to get Courtois' attention in the tunnel before the game by repeatedly calling the Belgian keeper "Giraffe". Interesting nickname. 

Many on twitter complaining about the fact that Sevilla were disallowed that goal. Here are a few comments: 

"VAR out here saving Real Madrid from losing . How can you say it’s a foul for Madrid whiles it’s the Madrid player who rather ran into the Sevilla player"

"Sevilla absolutely robbed blind at Real Madrid. VAR - which is an extension of officiating - is very clearly not good for football. Spanish officiating is quite... something"

"Ridiculous that VAR tells the referee to check the screen. And the referee gives a free kick for Real Madrid, unbelievable. Gudelj, the Sevilla player, stands still and does nothing. RM player walks into him and the referee disallows the goal. Privilige of being Real Madrid"

Peep peep! That's the end of the first half! On a wet January afternoon in Madrid, the first half ends 0-0 after Sevilla have a goal disallowed by VAR on 30'.

Madrid have really struggled to put something together since before Sevilla's disallowed goal.

Sevilla break quickly down the left after dispossessing Madrid but Militao snuffs out the danger. 

Reguilon is piled over again, this time by Carvajal. What a welcome the Madrid loanee is receiving on his first return to the Bernabéu. 

Sevilla have been on top here since the disallowed goal. Madrid need to regroup. 

Relief for Madrid! The goal has been disallowed, for obstruction on Militao as he ran to try to stop De Jong from heading home from the corner. It remains 0-0!

Sevilla enjoying a brief spell of pressure and now have a corner. 

Casemiro shoots from distance! But his curling effort flies high and wide, not by much though. 

Modric, Lucas and Carvajal try to link up on the right, but the Croatian is dispossesed as a back-heel pass from Lucas takes him by surprise. He should have been more alert to that. 

First real opportiunity for Sevilla: De Jong tries to connect first time with a cross from the right. But it's blocked by Varane. Nice break from Sevilla to set up the chance. However, they can do nothing with the resultant corner. 

Kroos delivers the corner kick. It's cleared by a Sevilla head but only as far as Marcelo, whose first-time volley from outside the box flies way, way over the cross bar. Ambitious from the Brazilian full back. 

Modric does well to draw in a few Sevilla defenders before squaring a pass to Kross at the edge of the box. The German strikes it cleanly and on target but it's straight into the arms of Vaclik. 

Munir has Sevilla's first attempt at goal with a go from distance but it's not going to trouble Courtois. The Spanish-Moroccan is currently Sevilla's top scorer with 7 goals this season. 

Madrid slowly trying to build something from the back here. But Marcelo eventually gives away the ball as he tried to release Jovic. 

Rodrygo drives forward, passes to Jovic, who shoots first time from just outside the box. But his shot is blocked down. Decent pressure from Madrid before Sevilla eventually regain possession. 

Madrid have a chance to break through Rodrygo in the centre, but the Brazilian's pass to Modric on the right wing is way off. Poor.

Lucas Vazquez fouls Madrid loanee Reguilon in Sevilla's half. Welcome back to the Bernabéu Sergio!

Sevilla with the first attacking move of the game, but a low cross from the right is picked up by Courtois as Madrid regain possession. 

Match underway as Real Madrid kick off!

Real Madrid set to recieve a guard of honour in a few minutes as they enter the stadium. Almost ready to go here...

Real Madrid players have just finished their warm up and are heading back into the dressing room. Sevilla remain on the pitch on a wet day in Madrid. 

In the first LaLiga fixtue of the weekend: Visitors Alavés have just beaten Levante 1-0, with the goal coming from Alex Veidal on 64'. Alavés jump two places to 14th, while Levante stay in 11th place.  

Playing for Sevilla today of course is Real Madrid loanee Sergio Reguilon, one of several Blanco players, including Take Kubo and Martin Odegaard, earning their stripes at other LaLiga clubs this season. 23-year-old full back Reguilon has played 16 league fixtures this season for Lopetegui, providing one goal and two assists. 

Sevilla line-up: Vaclík, Jesús Navas, Koundé, Diego Carlos, Reguilón, Fernando, Gudelj, Banega, Munir, De Jong, Vázquez. (scroll down to see Madrid's starting XI) 

Here's what the managers had to say before in their pressers yesterday

Zidane (on Lopetegui's return): "I hope he gets a good reception. Lopetegui is a Real Madrid man - after all, he played for the club, too. Real Madrid men are always well received here."

Lopetegui: "We will try to show our strengths and hide our weaknesses, like all teams. We know the opponent we will have in front of us, but nobody can take away our drive and intention to be centre-stage in a very demanding stadium."

Madrid team sheet is in: Courtois, Carvajal, Militao, Varane, Kroos, Modric, Marcelo, Casemiro, Lucas V., Jovic, Rodrygo.

Zidane has chosen not risk Benzema from the start, as the Frenchman has just returned from a short injury spell. Jovic starts, although Benzema is likely to be introduced in the second half. 

As Real Madrid prepared to face Sevilla, Flamengo starlet Reiner Jesus (or the next Neymar) was in the Spanish capital to sign for Los Blancos, following in the footsteps of fellow Flamengo academy graduate, Vinicius. You can read more about that here. 

Xavi "Chicharito" Hernandez, who has been left out of the Sevilla squad today, is set to be imminently unveiled as LA Galaxy's latest signing. The Mexican international, who has stuggled for his place in Seville, will reportedly become the highest paid player in the MLS...

We're assuming this is not the real Rodrygo... Bale has now gone 141 days without a goal for Madrid. 

Gareth Bale was the surprise omission from Zidane's squad today. Yesterday Real Madrid confirmed to AS that the Welshman currently has no injury problems, meaning he has been left out purely for technical reasons. No doubt the eyes of the Spanish press will be on Bale to see if he skips away early to beat the traffic as usual. (Check out our article from yesterday: Zidane has sentenced Bale)

With three wins and two draws from their last five games on the road, Sevilla have the best away record in LaLiga this season. However they have their lost their last 12 consecutive matches at the Bernabéu. Can they bring an end to that awful streak today?

Saturday's game also sees the return of Julen Lopetegui to the Bernabéu. The last time he was here was as coach of Real Madrid in the 2-1 win over Viktoria Plzen on October 23, 2018. The following game was the 5-1 defeat to Barcelona at Camp Nou, which proved to be his last as Blancos coach. However, 15 months on and the Spaniard is enjoying a much better spell at Sevilla, who are currently fourth on the table and five points behind Madrid. 

Birthday boy Eder Militao will be gifted with a start at the Bernabéu today. He will come in for injured captain Sergio Ramos, who is out with an ankle injury...

Here is the 19-man squad Zidane has named. The big question is if he will start Benzema, who comes back in after a short injury spell, or sticks with his replacement Jovic, who has struggled for goals and has just one to his name. We'll have the answer very soon...

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Real Madrid vs Sevilla at the Santiago Bernabéu. The match gets underway at 16:00 (CET). In the meantime you can follow the build-up with us here. Team news to follow shortly.