A late header from captain Dani Carvajal secured Real Madrid a 1-1 draw at Sevilla on Saturday as the LaLiga leaders battled back after David Alaba's own goal had given the hosts the lead.
Real moved on to 25 points from 10 games, three ahead of Girona, the surprise package of the season who host bottom side Almeria on Sunday. Barcelona, third on 21 points, face Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.
It was a feisty affair in Seville, as a frustrated Real were thwarted by two early disallowed efforts following contentious refereeing decisions. Real's players and manager Carlo Ancelotti complained to the referee repeatedly in the first half. He ruled out an early Federico Valverde strike for offside in the build-up, said he had stopped play before Jude Bellingham put the ball in the net and turned away Real's claims that Jesus Navas had fouled Vinicius Jr. in the penalty area.
Sevilla started to fight back into the match and almost scored as Carvajal made a goalline clearance to keep out an Ivan Rakitic strike.
Defender Sergio Ramos, facing the club where he made his name for the first time since rejoining his childhood team, made a crucial goalline clearance of his own to help Sevilla keep the game level before halftime.
The second half was all about the goalkeepers, with both Kepa Arrizabalaga and Orjan Nyland making brilliant saves to keep their sides in contention.
Sevilla's Nyland made a brilliant reflex save to deny a Rodrygo point-blank strike early on, and Real's Kepa palmed round the post a fine Ivan Rakitic strike from range.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior said he saw racist abuse by a “child” during his team’s 1-1 draw at Sevilla on Saturday in La Liga.
Sevilla expelled a supporter for “racist and xenophobic behavior”, the club said in a statement, with Vinicius thanking them for their quick action, as well as highlighting another incident.
Spanish newspaper Marca ran photographs of a man appearing to make monkey gestures in the direction of the Brazil winger after he clashed with Sevilla goalkeeper Orjan Nyland.
Vinicius shared the same picture on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, and said in addition, he had seen a video of a child making a racist gesture.
“Congratulations to Sevilla for their quick positioning (on the incident) and punishment in yet another sad episode for Spanish football,” wrote Vinicius.
“Unfortunately, I had access to a video of another racist gesture in Saturday's match, this time carried out by a child.
“I am very sorry there is no-one to educate you. I invest, and I invest a lot, in education in Brazil to help form citizens with different attitudes to these.”
A video circulating on social media appears to show a teenage girl making a monkey gesture at Vinicius.
The Brazilian winger has been the victim of racist abuse on various occasions during his time in Spain, although often no action has been taken by the law. Vinicius testified before a Spanish court on October 5 by videoconference as part of an investigation into alleged abuse he suffered at Valencia in May.
The winger stopped the game at the Mestalla Stadium to face off with a fan he believed was abusing him.
“I hope the Spanish authorities do their part and change the legislation once and for all,” continued Vinicius on X.
“These people must be criminally punished too. It would be a great first step in preparing for the 2030 World Cup. I'm available to help.
“Sorry to seem repetitive, but this is isolated episode number 19, and counting.”
