Real Madrid extended their unbeaten start to the season in La Liga to 11 matches as they comfortably defeated Sevilla 3-1 at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu to move six points clear at the top of the table.
There was a feel-good factor at the Bernabeu prior to kick-off despite the heavy rain in the Spanish capital, as Thibaut Courtois was presented with his Yashin Trophy by Iker Casillas and Karim Benzema lifted his Ballon d’Or title for the home crowd, with Zinedine Zidane also in attendance.
Real Madrid channeled that energy to make a very fast start as Sevilla could not cope early on. It took just five minutes for Los Blancos to strike, as Luca Modric tapped home Vinicius Junior’s cut-back past Yassine Bounou from inside the penalty area.
The mood in the stands quickly turned, however, as just nine minutes into the second half, Sevilla shocked the Bernabeu with a goal against the run of play. Gonzalo Montiel picked out Erik Lamela with a superb through ball, and the Argentine toe-poked the ball past Courtois from a tight angle in the box to get his side back on level terms.
Then, with just over ten minutes to play, Madrid scored from a clinical counter attack to go back in front. Rafa Mir was dispossessed by Marco Asensio in midfield, and he fed in Vini Jr, who advanced all the way into the penalty area.
The Brazilian unselfishly laid it off to Lucas Vazquez beside him, who had an easy tap-in.
The scoring was complete two minutes later as Federico Valverde smashed in a thunderbolt of a strike into the top corner from 20 yards out to seal an important win for his side in some style.