By TTreasure Annieth
Real Madrid warmed up for next weekend’s El Clasico in emphatic fashion, defeating Sevilla 4-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu to close the gap on La Liga leaders Barcelona.
Kylian Mbappe scored twice, while Arda Guler and Yan Diomande were also on target as Real Madrid produced one of their most convincing performances in recent weeks.
The victory came a day after Barcelona strengthened their position at the top of the table with a 5-2 win over Real Betis.
With Vinicius Junior suspended, Real Madrid relied on other attacking options, and Guler played a key role in creating opportunities throughout the match.
After a quiet opening period, Guler broke the deadlock when he collected Yan Diomande’s pass before sending a powerful effort into the top corner.
Mbappe doubled the advantage in the 37th minute, showing impressive composure to turn away from his marker and race through on goal before calmly finishing past Sevilla goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos.
Sevilla came close to reducing the deficit after the break, but Fede Valverde produced an important block to prevent Felix Correia from finding the net.
Real Madrid then took control of the contest again when Diomande exploited space behind the Sevilla defence and released Mbappe. The Frenchman was brought down inside the area by Andres Castrin and converted the resulting penalty to make it 3-0.
Sevilla eventually pulled one back through substitute Manu Bueno, who took advantage of a mistake by Mbappe before calmly finishing with 10 minutes remaining.
However, Real Madrid restored their three-goal cushion almost immediately as Diomande capped an impressive individual display with a powerful strike.
There was also a welcome return for Eder Militao, who received a warm reception from the home supporters when he came on in the 85th minute for his first appearance since undergoing hamstring surgery in April.
The result gives Real Madrid three consecutive victories in all competitions since the international break and provides a timely boost ahead of their meeting with Barcelona next Sunday.
Barcelona had earlier maintained their perfect league record with a 5-2 victory over Real Betis, making it nine wins from nine and taking their goal tally to 39.
Lamine Yamal opened the scoring before Rodri, Gabriel Jesus, Eric Garcia and substitute Dani Olmo added further goals. Valentin Gomez and Ez Abde scored for Betis, who played much of the second half with 10 men after Facundo Bernal was sent off.
Atletico Madrid also claimed a 1-0 victory away to Espanyol, while Osasuna defeated Racing Santander 2-0 in Jagoba Arrasate’s first match back in charge.
Celta Vigo beat Alaves 2-1, with goalkeeper Ionut Radu making two important saves, while Real Sociedad recorded a 5-2 victory over Malaga.
