Real Madrid Player Ratings vs. Sevilla: Bellingham Sends Warning Shot to Barcelona

Real Madrid closed out 2025 with a 2–0 victory over Sevilla on Saturday evening, keeping the pressure on Barcelona atop the La Liga table.

After an abysmal six-week run, Los Blancos were desperate to head into the holiday break with three points. Yet Xabi Alonso’s men produced a performance that earned them whistles from the home crowd at the Bernabéu.

Still, no matter how unimaginative Real Madrid looked over the course of 90 minutes, a bit of set-piece magic between Rodrygo and Jude Bellingham, as well as a successful spot kick from Kylian Mbappé, secured the win. It helped that Sevilla played the final 22 minutes of the match with 10 men.

The Spanish giants now trail Barcelona by just one point in the La Liga standings. Should the Catalans stumble against Villarreal on Sunday, the fight for the Spanish crown once again heats up.

Real Madrid Player Ratings vs. Sevilla (4-1-2-3)

Jude Bellingham continues to put Real Madrid on his back. | Oscar Del Pozo/AFP/Getty Images

*Ratings Provided by FotMob*

GK: Thibaut Courtois—8.5: Came up huge in the second half to bail out his makeshift backline. A big reason why Real Madrid walked away with three points.

RB: Raúl Asencio—7.0: Played well out of position. Made up for his shortcomings going forward with exceptional defensive interventions.

CB: Antonio Rüdiger—7.0: Exerted a concerning amount of effort to handle Alexis Sánchez. Would have been caught out against a better forward.

CB: Dean Huijsen—7.8: Looked one second away from disaster in the early stages. Beaten for pace far too many times, but looked great on the ball.

LB: Fran García—7.1: Made several surprising runs forward to help spread the attack. Remains a liability in defense.

DM: Aurélien Tchouaméni—7.6: Bounced back after a shaky start. Did well dropping back as a third center back at times.

AM: Arda Güler—7.1: Easily knocked off the ball. Simply does not have enough of a presence in the midfield to replace Eduardo Camavinga, who will likely take his spot in the XI come 2026.

AM: Jude Bellingham—8.6: There is nothing Bellingham can’t do. Scored the game’s opening goal, created in the final third, won the most duels and tracked back when called upon. Deserved all the praise raining down on him from the fans at the Bernabéu.

RW: Rodrygo—8.9: Danced down the right flank in another vintage performance. His free kick facilitated the game’s breakthrough, giving the Brazilian three goal contributions in his last three starts. Also won the penalty to seal the game.

ST: Kylian Mbappé—8.3: Desperate to score, sometimes even at the expense of his own teammates. Still, his presence loomed large and he got his record-tying goal in the end.

LW: Vinicius Junior—7.9: Slightly predictable on the ball, but still bossed the attack down the left-hand side of the pitch. Unlucky not to walk away with at least one assist on the night.

Substitute	Rating (Out of 10)
Eduardo Camavinga (72’ for Güler)	6.8
Gonzalo García (83’ for Vinicius Jr)	N/A
David Jiménez (93’ for Asencio)	N/A

Subs not used: Andriy Lunin (GK), Sergio Mestre (GK), David Alaba, Ferland Mendy, Dani Ceballos, Jorge Cestero, Thiago Pitarch, Franco Mastantuono.

Sevilla (5-3-2)

Starting XI: Odysseas Vlachodimos; Juanlu Sánchez, José Ángel Carmona, Nemanja Gudelj, Marcão, Gabriel Suazo; Djibril Sow, Lucien Agoumé, Batista Mendy; Isaac Romero, Alexis Sánchez.

Subs used: Oso, Gerard Fernández, Alfon, Kike Salas, Adnan Januzaj.

Player of the Match: Rodrygo (Real Madrid)

Real Madrid 2–0 Sevilla—How It Unfolded at the Bernabéu

Rodrygo, Jude Bellingham — Rodrygo (top) and Jude Bellingham linked up to bag the opener for Real Madrid. | Mateo Villalba/Getty Images

The Spanish giants got off to a near-nightmare start on Saturday evening. Cheap giveaways from Aurélien Tchouaméni and Dean Huijsen presented Sevilla with glorious chances in the opening stages of the game, sounding alarm bells at the Bernabéu.

Real Madrid escaped without conceding a goal, but not through much of their own efforts; a bit more quality in the final third from Isaac Romero and Alexis Sánchez would have easily got the visitors on the scoresheet before the game even hit the 10-minute mark.

Alonso’s men settled into the match, but had little to show for it. Every pass forward was easy to read for Sevilla’s defense, and there was virtually no playmaking coming from Arda Güler in the midfield. Kylian Mbappé even found himself drifting to the right wing in a desperate attempt to get something going.

With just one shot on target to its name in 35 minutes, Los Blancos’ one-dimensional attack was handed a lifeline by Marcão. The defender committed a borderline challenge on Rodrygo that controversially only landed him a yellow card. Still, the dangerous, studs-up tackle earned Real Madrid a set piece that changed the game.

Rodrygo delivered a sensational ball from the right flank that Bellingham met in the air. The England international sent his glancing header into the back of the net to put his side up 1–0 in the 38th minute.

After a quiet first half, Mbappé came out of the tunnel desperate to score. The Frenchman had a flurry of chances in the opening five minutes of the second half, but could not muster the end product to get on the scoresheet.

Real Madrid would have rued Mbappé’s squandered opportunities if not for the heroics of Thibaut Courtois at the other end of the pitch. The goalkeeper made two brilliant saves to deny Romero, who easily exploited the hosts’ makeshift backline, to preserve his team’s lead.

The match tilted back in favor of Los Blancos in the 68th minute. Marcão received his second yellow of the evening for an awful sliding tackle on Bellingham, leaving Sevilla down to 10.

Much to the dismay of the crowd at the Bernabéu, Alonso’s men could not find a second against their undermanned opponents until Rodrygo won his side a penalty in the 85th minute. Mbappé calmly converted from 12 yards out to match Cristiano Ronaldo’s record for the most goals scored by a Real Madrid player in a calendar year.

It looked like the France international would have a chance to surpass his icon’s name in the history books, but another penalty for the hosts was wiped away after a decisive VAR review. Still, the 15-time European champions happily collected their three points and now can focus on the festive period.