Golden Ball winner Karim Benzema was honored by Real Madrid on Saturday night. However, without the injured striker, the home side struggled with Sevilla. Two late goals made it 3-1.

Benzema was unable to attend Real’s first home game since winning the Golden Ball in Paris due to muscle fatigue. The Frenchman received thunderous applause from the crowd at the Estadio Bernabéu.

The former Real Madrid player who won the Golden Ball opened the scoring early: Luka Modric scored with a punch after a striking attack.

A monster result seemed to be in the offing against weak Sevilla, who have won just twice this season. But the Andalusians gained more and more confidence as the game progressed.

That led to Erik Lamela’s equalizer shortly after the break. The Argentinian swept past keeper Thibaut Courtois, who was named the best goalkeeper in the world at the Golden Ball gala, from a difficult corner.

Real then quarreled with Sevilla and themselves for a long time, but still kept the three points at home. With ten minutes remaining, Vinicius Júnior was not selfish with a quick lunge, allowing Lucas Vazquez to swing into an empty goal. Shortly thereafter, Federico Vazquez shot in from a distance to make it 3-1.

Sociedad below

In the early evening, number three Real Sociedad suffered a surprising defeat. The Basques lost 1-0 to Valladolid.