Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane urged his side to put their disappointment of a first defeat in 40 games behind them as Sevilla produced a remarkable late turnaround to breathe new life into the Spanish title race with a 2-1 win on Sunday.
Zidane’s men looked set to extend their commanding lead at the top of La Liga when Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan from the penalty spot midway through the second half, but Real captain Sergio Ramos delighted the home fans by heading into his own net on his return to his former club and substitute Stefan Jovetic curled home a dramatic stoppage-time winner on his La Liga debut as Sevilla closed to within a point of Real.
The victory also took Sevilla a point above Barcelona into second, but Madrid still have a game in hand on both.
Photo: AFP
“I have to be very proud of them all for what we have done until now,” Zidane told BeIN Sports Spain. “We know this was going to happen some day, it is today, and now we have to continue working hard in all competitions.”
Ramos received an even more hostile reception than normal in Seville after goading the ultras section of the home support in scoring a late penalty in a 3-3 draw in the Copa del Rey between the sides on Thursday last week.
“There is no need to point the finger or apologize,” Ramos said. “When we win, we all win, and when we lose, it is the same. We couldn’t kill the game off.”
Sevilla coach Jorge Sampaoli claimed his side can cash in on the momentum gained by such a late turnaround to fuel their unlikely title challenge.
“It has to stimulate the team, playing like this against a team that hadn’t lost in so long,” the Argentine said. “The conclusion to take from the game is that we won it, we are a point behind them and played with great bravery against such a big team.”
Jovetic in particular enjoyed a whirlwind week as the Montenegrin only completed a loan move from Italy’s Inter on Tuesday last week.
However, he netted on his debut against Real on Thursday and repeated the trick with a great long-range hit two minutes into stoppage-time.
“I couldn’t imagine a better start,” Jovetic said. “I want to offer the team what it needs to go as far as possible in the league and Champions League.”
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