Real Madrid set-piece threat muted in 4-1 Sevilla win

Dead-ball quiet despite 4-1 scoreline

Real Madrid beat Sevilla 4-1 at the Santiago Bernabéu on Sunday, October 18, but the set-piece analysis published by Managing Madrid found little threat from either side’s dead-ball situations.

Real Madrid 4-1 Sevilla set piece analysis

Kylian Mbappé’s penalty was the only set-piece-related goal; neither team scored from a delivery. The figures underline how little the restarts contributed to the scoreline, rather than offering a complete account of Madrid’s attacking play.

Restart numbers

Sevilla recorded 1.17 non-penalty expected goals overall, but only 0.07 from six attacking restarts. Madrid’s restarts produced just one shot.

Sevilla: 6 attacking restarts — 3 free kicks, 2 corners and a throw-in delivered into the box. 2 shots from restarts, 0.07 set-piece npxG.
Real Madrid: 7 restarts — six free kicks and one corner. 1 shot from restarts, 0.03 set-piece npxG.

Murad’s seven restarts produced only one attempt: Endrick’s effort after Arda Güler’s corner shortly after half-time, worth 0.03 npxG. Five of Madrid’s seven restarts came after they had taken the lead, and Güler took three.

The total set-piece output was a small part of the match’s chance tally: Madrid recorded 1.22 npxG overall, while Sevilla’s restarts accounted for just a fraction of their total.

Defensive dealing

Sevilla’s best chance came from a free kick. Madrid dealt with three of Sevilla’s deliveries by winning first contact, while Thibaut Courtois claimed two more.

Sevilla’s best opportunity came in the 73rd minute, when Manu Bueno met Gabriel Suazo’s free kick and sent his shot wide; the chance was valued at 0.06 npxG.

At the other end, Sevilla won first contact on two of Madrid’s seven deliveries. Madrid lost its only first-contact aerial duel, and goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos dealt with one delivery.

The analysis therefore depicts a quiet match for set pieces, not a full statistical breakdown of how Madrid created its four goals.

Next test: Clásico

Madrid’s win came after Barcelona had beaten Real Betis, and the two sides are due to meet at Camp Nou next weekend. Infobae reported that Los Blancos would arrive six points behind the league leaders; AFP also placed Barcelona six points clear before the Clásico.

Barcelona’s result has added immediate weight to the fixture, which will test Madrid against the side currently ahead of them in the table. The 4-1 scoreline also followed a match in which Mbappé scored twice and Yan Diomande added Madrid’s fourth, according to AFP. The next league meeting with Barcelona is scheduled for Sunday, October 25.