Sunday, May 9, 2021 at 10:55 PM• Mart van Mourik • Last update: 22:57

Real Madrid and Seville miraculously balanced each other on Sunday evening. In the Estadio Alfredo Di Stéfano, Sevilla seemed to seize the victory fifteen minutes before the end after a utilized, controversial penalty kick from Ivan Rakitic, but Toni Kroos evened the score deep in injury time with a shot that had changed direction: 2-2. Luuk de Jong started from the bench and was allowed to participate in the last eight minutes. Atlético Madrid remains the leader in LaLiga with 77 points, while Real Madrid (75), Barcelona (75) and Sevilla (71) are in the wake.

Trainer Zinedine Zidane changed his starting eleven in three positions compared to the lost Champions League match against Chelsea (2-0). Sergio Ramos was not fit enough to get into action and Nacho did his honors. Eden Hazard, who received fierce criticism the day after the elimination in the championship ball, lost his starting spot to Federico Valverde. Marcelo was preferred to Ferland Mendy in the left back position. Julen Lopetegui, who himself was suspended in the stands, surprised Seville by sending a real striker into the field. Alejandro Papu Gómez was at the point of the attack in favor of De Jong and Youssef En Nesyri. Karim Rekik stayed on the couch for ninety minutes.

It was the visitors who took the lead in the opening phase, although the slight field predominance did not immediately lead to clear opportunities. The start of both matches was sloppy and reluctant, but after fifteen minutes of play Karim Benzema thought to open the score. The striker nodded the ball in from a cross by Álvaro Odriozola, who, however, was offside when he was played on the right side of the field: goal rejected. Sevilla’s handling of the ball remained careless even after the warning shot; the Madrid people, however, were unable to take advantage of the opponent’s flip flops.

Yet it was Sevilla that took the lead halfway through the first half. A cross from Jesús Navas ended up with the detached Rakitic, who headed towards Fernando. The midfielder sent both Odriozola and Casemiro into the forest with a skilful logging move, to then finish in a cool-blooded way: 0-1. In the remainder of the first half, Real Madrid went looking for the equalizer. The Royal was not powerful enough from an offensive point of view to cause serious problems for goalkeeper Yassine Bounou.

Seven minutes after tea, the home team hoped to get a penalty kick. From a corner by Toni Kroos, the ball landed on Joan Jordán’s shoulder and then on Diego Carlos’s arm. Although the video referee still looked closely at the images, the decision of arbitrator José Luis Munuera, who refused to put the ball on the dot, was not rectified. Shortly after Vinícius Júnior unfortunately hit the post from close by, Marco Asensio was accurate. The substitute received the ball from Kroos on the right side of the box, after which Asensio fired in diagonally: 1-1.

In the 74th minute a bizarre situation arose. In his own sixteen, Éder Militão made a handball, although Munuera did not want to know anything about a penalty kick. In the counterattack, Benzema was knocked out by Bounou within the sixteen meter area. The final post was punished by the on-duty referee with a penalty, but video arbiter Gonzalo González tapped Munuera on the fingers. After viewing the images, it was decided to sue Sevilla. Rakitic took his responsibility and shot the 1-2 against the ropes. Deep in injury time, Real Madrid was still on the same level. A long shot by Kroos was diverted by Diego Carlos in such a way that Bounou was unable to answer the German’s bet: 2-2.