Despite a 40-game unbeaten streak, Real Madrid still find themselves stuck in a three-way title race

The Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan is one of the toughest stadiums in Spain and no visiting manager will doubt the cauldron that the Sevillistas create. The latest to lose their bearings at the home of Sevilla are Real Madrid who saw their 40-match unbeaten streak come to a grinding halt on Sunday night.

The league match was a third tussle between the two sides within a space of ten days, following their skirmishes in the two-legged round of 16 Copa del Rey clash that ended 6-3 in favour of the Los Blancos (as Real Madrid are nicknamed). Sevilla were oh so close to halting their rival’s run at 39 games in their last encounter at the Pizjuan but a late Karim Benzema strike rescued a 3-3 draw for the visiting side.

And Zinedine Zidane’s charges appeared on course to stretch their streak on Sunday by another game when Cristiano Ronaldo put the visitors ahead with a 67th minute penalty. However, egged on by their frenzied supporters, Sevilla made sure that it will be their turn for some late heroics. The hosts were level five minutes from the end of normal time when Sergio Ramos – who has made it a habit of scoring late headers – headed one into his own net, much to the delight of the home fans.

In the second minute of added time, January loan signing Stevan Jovetic took his chance from distance to beat Keylor Navas and seal a memorable win for the Andalusians.

The three points have lifted Sevilla above the reigning Spanish champions Barcelona into second and they are now just a point behind Real Madrid – who have a game in hand. More importantly, the Real Madrid defeat has certainly thrown the title race wide open, considering a win for them would have made the task extremely difficult for the title-chasing pack.

The hard-fought win has also thrown spotlight on the work that Jorge Sampaoli has done with the Sevilla squad. He took charge of the club in the summer after Unai Emery was lured away to Paris Saint-Germain and the Argentine, who helped Chile win their first ever Copa America in 2015 in his last assignment, has taken no time to stamp his mark over his new charges.

Not that Sevilla were underachieving under Emery, in fact, they created history by winning a third successive Europa League last summer and narrowly missed out on qualifying for the Champions League through the league route for the last three seasons. And now under their new manager Sevilla are showing the form that might as well take them title contenders if they maintain consistency as the league campaign approaches the halfway mark.

Astute signings are a Sevilla hallmark

Being a club of modest resources Sevilla know their place in the scheme of things and go about their business with minimum fuss. With the transfer window magician Monchi for club director, Sevilla have made it a habit of bringing the right players despite losing their biggest names on a yearly basis.

The team had its heart ripped with Ever Banega, Grzegorz Krychowiak club captain Coke and Kevin Gameiro all leaving for newer pastures in the last summer transfer window. Yet the loss of Emery seemed even more significant.

But Sevilla did what Sevilla do.

They have brought in the likes of Samir Nasri, Luciano Vietto and Wissam Ben Yedder to the squad. Their January arrival Jovetic has already slotted home twice in two games. And, quite remarkably, even their managerial appointment seems an upgrade on Emery, who has struggled at PSG despite an abundance of resources.

Atletico Madrid struggle to keep pace

Of Sevilla’s significant scalps in the league has been that of Atletico Madrid who were beaten 1-0 at the Pizjuan in October. The 2014 Spanish champions have been a constant fixture in the league top three since Diego Simeone took charge in 2011. However, their form this year has made some of the club faithful jittery.

The team sit fourth in the league table with 20 games in the league campaign to go and they are six points adrift of Real Madrid. Los Rojiblancos’ (as Atletico are nicknamed) campaign has been blighted by uncharacteristic defeats. They were ripped 3-0 apart at home by Real Madrid – their first defeat in the league to the city rivals since the 2012-‘13 campaign – and were equally ineffective in another 3-0 defeat at the hands of Villarreal at the Madrigal.

The Yellow Submarine, who also saw a change of manager in the summer with Fran Escriba replacing Marcelino Garcia Toral, are hot on the heels of Simeone’s side and are just three-point adrift of a top four spot.

Is the end near for Diego Simeone?

It is hard to imagine a Simeone side shipping three goals to any rival. Atletico Madrid under the Argentine have been renowned for making it extremely difficult for the opposition to score goals and it is no surprise that the team have kept a clean sheet in about 60 per cent of their Champions League games under him.

The 2016 Champions League defeat to bitter rivals Real Madrid no doubt had an effect on Simeone especially considering the fine margins in that penalty shootout defeat. It rankled even more as it was a second defeat to the same rivals in the European final in three years. The Argentine had signed a new deal in March 2015 that would have seen him steer the Vicente Calderon outfit until the summer of 2020. But in September he reduced the contract duration by two years.

The curtailing of the deal is a sure sign that Simeone is considering his future at the club that he has served with so much pride and distinction. Atletico already appear adrift in the title race, and if they fail to make any significant inroads in the Champions League – the team have been drawn to play Bayer Leverkusen in their round of 16 clash – there is every possibility that Simeone may not see the end of his contract.

It might be the end of the road for a feisty Argentine in the Spanish league but if early signs are to be believed his feisty compatriot is likely to grace the Spanish shores for a long time to come.

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