Sevilla vs. Real Madrid: Team News, Predicted Lineups, Live Stream and TV Info
Sevilla will seek to defend an unbeaten streak at home in La Liga stretching back more than 14 months when they welcome title contenders Real Madrid to their fortress on Saturday.
It just so happens that Barcelona were the last team to beat Unai Emery's side on their own turf in league competition last February, but even the Blaugrana could only take a 2-2 draw from Seville three weeks ago.
BeIN Sports football host Kay Murray outlines just how impressive Saturday's hosts have been in front of their own fans over the past year:
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Barca travel to Cordoba earlier on Saturday and Real boss Carlo Ancelotti can only hope their title foes slip up as they face a difficult trip of their own in Week 35, with full match preview detailed ahead.
Date: Saturday, May 2
Time: 7 p.m. BST/2 p.m. ET
Live Stream: Sky Go (UK), beIN Sports Connect (US)
TV Info: Sky Sports 5 (UK), beIN Sports 2 (US)
Venue: Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan
| W 1-3 vs. Eibar (A) | W 3-0 vs. Almeria (H) |
| W 2-0 vs. Rayo Vallecano (H) | W 2-4 vs. Celta Vigo (A) |
| D 2-2 vs. Zenit St. Petersburg (A) | W 1-0 vs. Atletico Madrid (H) |
| D 1-1 vs. Granada (A) | W 3-1 vs. Malaga (H) |
| W 2-1 vs. Zenit St. Petersburg (H) | D 0-0 vs. Atletico Madrid (A) |
Team News
Having earned a couple of controversial, late cautions against Celta Vigo last Sunday, defensive duo Sergio Ramos and Dani Carvajal will be back in Real's squad for the trip to Sevilla on Saturday.
Spanish newspaper Sport confirmed earlier in the week that the pair would miss Wednesday's win over Almeria, Ramos and Carvajal picking up their fifth and 10th yellow cards of the campaign, respectively:
And having performed well in that role against Atletico Madrid almost two weeks ago, Ramos could line up in midfield to replace Asier Illarramendi, Los Blancos said, according to Sport:
The bigger concern for Ancelotti, however, rests with the fitness of Gareth Bale, who continues to make his way back from a calf injury.
The official Real Madrid Twitter account showed the Welsh winger could be in line for a return at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan after training with the team this week, although it could be his impact comes from the bench:
Meanwhile, Iker Casillas could come back into the side in place of Keylor Navas, while Fabio Coentrao will likely drop back out in place of Marcelo and Ancelotti alters his midfield options with Luka Modric still injured.
Emery doesn't have any new injury or suspension concerns to worry about, although news of centre-back Nico Pareja's torn knee ligament will still be hitting home in Sevilla, per Fox Soccer:
That being said, Emery may well opt to rotate his side after changing the order up for Wednesday's victory against Eibar, with Grzegorz Krychowiak among the handful of senior players rested for that win.
Benoit Tremoulinas, Daniel Carrico and Vitolo are also likely to take their spots in the starting XI against Real, having all failed to feature against Eibar.
Predicted Formations
Sevilla (4-2-3-1)
Sergio Rico; Coke, Benoit Tremoulinas, Timothee Kolodziejczak, Daniel Carrico; Grzegorz Krychowiak, Stephane Mbia; Vitolo, Vicente Iborra, Aleix Vidal; Carlos Bacca
Real Madrid (4-3-3)
Iker Casillas; Dani Carvajal, Marcelo, Pepe, Raphael Varane; Toni Kroos, Sergio Ramos, James Rodriguez; Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo, Javier Hernandez
| Sevilla Win | 21-20 |
| Draw | 13-5 |
| Real Madrid Win | 5-2 |
| Javier Hernandez—Anytime Goalscorer | 7-5 |
Player to Watch
While defending their borders has come with relative comfort to Sevilla, outscoring a force like Real Madrid may prove more troublesome for the home outfit this Saturday, which is where Carlos Bacca comes into play.
The Colombia international bagged an early brace to see off Eibar early on Wednesday evening, and as evidenced by OptaJose, the forward has a penchant for grabbing important goals for his side:
With 19 goals to his name this season, Bacca has a mere half of that tally accumulated by Saturday opponent Cristiano Ronaldo, but his conversion rate will be just as, if not more, important to this weekend's result.
Real may have players among their squad they can count on to pitch in should Ronaldo run out of ideas, but Sevilla are more dependent on Bacca having a fruitful day at the office, making his matchup all the more intriguing.
Key Battle
Grzegorz Krychowiak vs. Cristiano Ronaldo
There aren't that many midfield anchors creating more of a stir than Sevilla's Krychowiak of late, with the Poland international arguably verging on the kind of displays that earn one the status of being "elite."
The 25-year-old has a habit of turning up to meet the challenge head on under big-game circumstances, with Bleacher Report's Stefan Bienkowski providing footage of a particularly sumptuous tackle against Lionel Messi in April:
A few weeks later, Krychowiak was again playing a pivotal hand for Emery's side and earned the praise of beIN Sports' David Cartlidge as Sevilla beat Axel Witsel's Zenit St. Petersburg in the Europa League:
Part of being elite, however, is proving one's own consistency, and with Saturday's looming threat of Ronaldo comes another opportunity for Krychowiak to show the world why he's currently courting such hype.
Real's talisman has been somewhat out of shape recently and isn't scoring with his usual frequency, giving Sevilla weapon Krychowiak an opening to take advantage of and cancel out his substantial input.
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