Form and Line-up
Under Luis Garcia, Sevilla have unexpectedly come to life towards the end of the season. The victory over Villarreal was already the third in the last four rounds, with the home team scoring in each of those matches. The comeback at La Ceramica was particularly telling, where the hosts, having been 0:2 down, did not fall apart mentally and turned the game around, scoring three times (3:2). However, the problems in defence have not gone away. The team have already conceded 58 goals — only Levante, with 59, have a worse record.
Key numbers for Sevilla:
Both teams scored in three of Sevilla's last four matches.
Sevilla have received 101 yellow cards — the worst record.
Jose Angel Carmona, with 13 yellow cards, is the most ill-disciplined player in La Liga.
Probable line-up (4-4-2): Odysseas Vlachodimos — Jose Angel Carmona, Cesar Azpilicueta, Kike Salas, Gabriel Suazo — Ruben Vargas, Lucien Agoume, Djibril Sow, Oso — Akor Adams, Neal Maupay.
Absentees: Marcao, Manu Bueno (injuries).
Form and Line-up
Real Madrid have become embroiled in a series of scandals — from the fight between Valverde and Tchouameni to Kylian Mbappe's dissatisfaction with the role of "fourth forward" and a controversial interview given by Florentino Perez. However, the visitors go into the game as clear favourites. The team have won three of their last five matches, and in the previous round they dealt fairly comfortably with Real Oviedo (2:0), taking 19 shots, seven of them on target. At the same time, they have started to play much more pragmatically without the ball — only 33 goals conceded this season (the second-best record in La Liga) and two clean sheets in the last three rounds.
Key numbers for Real Madrid:
Real Madrid have scored 72 goals — the second-best tally in La Liga.
Real Madrid have won 12 of the last 14 head-to-head meetings with Sevilla.
Mbappe remains the top scorer in La Liga with 24 goals.
Probable line-up (4-4-2): Thibaut Courtois — Trent Alexander-Arnold, Antonio Rudiger, Raul Asensio, Alvaro Carreras — Franco Mastantuono, Brahim Diaz, Aurelien Tchouameni, Eduardo Camavinga — Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior.
Absentees: Rodrygo, Eder Militao, Arda Guler, Ferland Mendy, Federico Valverde (all injured), Andriy Lunin, Dean Huijsen (doubts).
