Sevilla have finally ensured themselves their top-flight status for next season as they take on a Real Madrid

Sevilla have finally ensured themselves their top-flight status for next season as they take on a Real Madrid side that are coming to the end of the Carlo Ancelotti era in Andalusia this week.

Sevilla come into this one on the back of a slender 1-0 defeat of Las Palmas at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan in Andalusia during the week thanks to a 52nd minute strike from youngster Alvaro Garcia Pascual to ensure their top-flight status for a further season.

It is the third successive season in which Sevilla have at one stage been involved in the relegation battle and it has been yet another miserable campaign. That was the first win of Joaquin Caparros’ fifth reign in charge, which began last month.

Carlo Ancelotti will depart Real Madrid at the end of the season with it already having been announced that he will go and take charge of the Brazilian national team with Los Blancos on the verge of ending the season without a major trophy.

They have won the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Intercontinental Cup this season but they lost the final of the Copa del Rey to Barcelona, the final of the Spanish Supercopa to Barcelona as well as in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League to Arsenal.

Sevilla youngster Isaac Romero is unavailable for this weekend’s visit of Madrid as he is missing through suspension. Key centre-back Kike Salas limped off in midweek and he is now sidelined through injury alongside winter transfer window signings Akor Adams and Ruben Vargas.

Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Nyland; Jorge Sanchez, Bade, Gudelj, Jose Angel Carmona; Agoume, Sow; Suso, Juanlu, Lukebakio, Alvaro Garcia.

Real Madrid nearly had their game against Mallorca abandoned due to the amount of first-team players unavailable for Los Blancos with recent injuries including Andriy Lunin, Lucas Vazquez, Brahim Diaz, Rodrygo and Vinicius Junior.

Predicted XI (4-3-3): Courtois; Fede Valverde, Jacobo, Raul Asencio, Fran Garcia; Dani Ceballos, Modric, Bellingham; Guler, Endrick, Mbappe.