Real Madrid players Cristiano Ronaldo (L) and Alvaro Arbeloa during their match against Las Palmas. (Photo : Getty Images)
Perennial powerhouse team Real Madrid CF (19-4-6, 63 points) is still looking to salvage a disappointing season by Los Blancos standards as they host contending squad and Copa del Rey finalist Sevilla FC (13-7-9, 48 points) at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium on Sunday, March 20th for a 2015-2016 La Liga season game.
Real Madrid is on a three-game winning streak after two consecutive winless performances, which made them remain at the third spot of the Spanish top flight league table, four points behind second-running neighborhood rival Atletico Madrid and 12 points adrift of defending champions and arch-rival FC Barcelona.
Los Blancos barely escaped with a 2-1 win over lowly club UD Las Palmas at the Estadio Gran Canaria last Sunday, as reported by SkySports.
Team captain Sergio Ramos scored the opening goal for head coach Zinedine Zidane's squad at the 24th minute of the match to give them the early lead against a hard-fighting Los Amarillos eleven.
The two teams stopped scoring for a long time after the first goal until Las Palmas' Brazilian forward Willian Jose was able to equalize the match three minutes before the full time mark.
Los Vikingos was not to be denied, however, with Brazilian midfielder Casemiro netting the winner with only a minute left before the full time whistle. Real then survived the stoppage time sending off of Ramos to escape with the victory on the road.
Meanwhile, a 10-man Sevilla team trounced reeling contender Villarreal, 4-2, at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium last Sunday, via ESPN.
Sevillistas winger Vicente Iborra drew first blood at the 23rd but Villarreal forward Cedric Bakambu netted two straight goals, at the 29th and 37th to give his team a 2-1 lead at the halftime break.
An own goal by Villarreal defender Victor Ruiz at the 51st and a goal by Ukrainian midfielder Yevhen Konoplyanka at the 65th gave the lead back to the hosts before their other midfielder, Ever Banega was sent off at the 79th.
Unai Emery's men were able to survive being a man down in the final stretches of the match and even sealed it late with an injury time goal from team captain Jose Antonio Reyes.
Sevilla is now at the fifth spot of the current league table, five points behind fourth-running Villarreal.
The predicted result is another 2-1 escape for Real Madrid over Sevilla.
Real Madrid starting lineup (4-3-3 formation): Navas; Carvajal, Pepe, Varane, Arbeloa; Modric, Casemiro, Isco; Lucas, Ronaldo, Bale
Sevilla starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Rico; Mariano, Rami, Carrico, Tremoulinas; Iborra, N'Zonzi; Krohn-Dehli, Vitolo, Konoplyanka; Gameiro
