Sevilla coach wary of Real Madrid’s quality: ‘They have the three best players in the world’ | OneFootball

Real Madrid will lock horns with Sevilla on Saturday in their final match of 2025, hoping to reduce the gap at the top in the La Liga title.

Despite securing back-to-back wins against Alaves and CF Talavera, Real Madrid have been far from their best over the past month or so and the pressure is firmly on manager Xabi Alonso.

However, Sevilla head coach Matias Almeyda, who has already masterminded a victory over Barcelona this season, is not taking anything for granted and is very much wary of the quality Real Madrid possess.

Mbappe, Vinicius, Bellingham – three best players in the world

Indeed, speaking to the media leading up to the match, Almeyda expressed his admiration for Real Madrid trio Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr., and Jude Bellingham.

“Real Madrid has the three best players in the world right now, in my opinion: Vinicius, Mbappe, and Bellingham. I don’t know how to stop them,” he said.

“We’ll try to block them, knowing they’re those special players, they have inventiveness and artistry. And no matter how much you study them, they’ll always come up with something new.”

The three best players in the world according to Sevilla coach. (Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images)

With Mbappe only a couple of goals away from going past Cristiano Ronaldo’s record of most goals in a calendar year for Real Madrid, Almeyda remarked:

“I hope Mbappe doesn’t break the record against us.”

Almeyda also defended Real Madrid manager Alonso, calling the 44-year-old tactician’s situation and the pressure on him ‘unfair’.

“How can I talk about Real Madrid’s situation when they’re in second place? Sometimes it’s all very unfair. I’ll always defend a colleague, to the death, because I know what we suffer and what we endure,” said the Sevilla manager.

“It doesn’t matter who’s on the bench; the guy playing in the Third Division wants to win too, and it hurts. I’m on the side of the coaches, if they’re fair. Xabi is a fair person, he’s given a lot to Real Madrid, and he deserves all my respect.”

Sevilla secured a brilliant victory at home against Barcelona earlier this season, beating them 4-1 back in October. On whether he intends to take a similar approach for Saturday’s match, Almeyda explained:

“Barcelona and Real Madrid play differently. We can compare their individual quality, but they have different styles, especially up front.

“It won’t be the same match as Barça’s, either offensively or defensively. Let’s see how we can stop those fantastic players that Madrid has.”

Source: AS