Real Madrid hadn’t lost since an April Champions League match against Wolfsburg, winning or drawing 40 games in a row to set the record for longest unbeaten streak in Spanish soccer history. But that ended at the Estadio Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán in Seville this evening, as Sevilla stormed back from a 1-0 deficit to defeat Real Madrid 2-1.
Madrid took the lead via a Cristiano Ronaldo penalty in the 67th minute, after Rico tripped Carvajal in the box. But in the 85th minute Sergio Ramos headed a dangerous free kick into his own goal, and in the 91st minute on-loan Stevan Jovetić fired the winner past Keylor Navas.
The win was especially sweet for Sevillistas given events of the last few days. Sevilla and Real Madrid also played in Seville three days ago, in the second leg of the Copa Del Rey round of 16. Sevilla were leading 3-1 and pushing to win the tie when Ramos, a native of Seville and a former Sevilla youth product, stepped up to take a penalty. As chants of “Sergio Ramos, hijo de puta” rang around the stadium, he cheekily hit a panenka past the Sevilla goalkeeper, before celebrating by sarcastically cupping his ears and pointing to his name on the back of his shirt. (Karim Benzema eventually knotted the game at 3-3, and Madrid advanced due to winning the first leg 3-0.)
After the game, Ramos said that he respected Sevilla supporters and that when he is buried it will be with both Sevilla and Real Madrid flags, but that certain members of the crowd had been chanting insults about his mother since the first minute. While Sevilla condemned the insults, they also asked La Liga to sanction Ramos for his celebration, while Real Madrid backed their player.
All of which led up to the 85th minute tonight, as Sevilla were just a few minutes away from a hard-fought loss to Madrid, another disappointing game. Instead, three days after showing up Sevilla fans—in response to insults, to be fair—Ramos heads the ball into the back of his net, and Sevilla won minutes later.
With the win, Sevilla are second in La Liga, just a point behind Madrid, though Madrid have a game in hand. And after winning the Europa League three years in a row, Sevilla are through to the knockout stages of the Champions League, with a very winnable two-legged tie against Leicester City kicking off next month.