Real Madrid v Barcelona: La Liga – live | La Liga

44 min: Bellingham slides a pass down the right towards Mbappe, forcing Martinez to whack out for a corner. Vazquez to take.

43 min: Vinicius spins Casado deep inside his own territory, but isn’t able to start a counter as the Barca man brings him down. Casado goes into the book.

41 min: Lamal, calling the shots from deep, very nearly threads a ball down the inside-left channel to release Raphinha clear on goal. Rudiger reads the situation expertly to intercept. Typically, the game being goalless, that move wouldn’t have been offside.

40 min: Some pinball on the edge of the Real box suddenly releases Lewandowski into the area down the right. Lewandowski whistles a fierce rising shot wide and high, then the flag goes up for offside. I hope George Graham is watching this match, he’ll be in hog heaven.

38 min: Bellingham slides in late on Casado and is fortunate not to be shown a yellow card. It looked for a second like the referee was going to produce one, running up to the player in determined fashion, but in the end a finger-wagging lecture sufficed.

36 min: Vinicius is caught offside down the left. That’s the eighth time Real have been flagged off. “I think on 19 minutes you meant: ‘Hansi Flick delivering a PHD level coaching refresher class in playing a high line to Postecoglou’,” writes Ben Barclay, for whom recent events are very much his friend. I admit defeat.

35 min: Lewandowski goes down in the environs of Rudiger. Not sure what happened, but he’s not happy. A sly knee in the coccyx? Ooyah, oof. The striker’s fine after some regenerative rolling about.

33 min: Mbappe isn’t taking that lying down, and powers down the middle this time before his shot is deflected away from danger by Martinez. Nothing comes of the resulting corner.

NO GOAL! Real Madrid 0-0 Barcelona

GOAL! Real Madrid 1-0 Barcelona (Mbappe 30)

29 min: A bit of space for Pedri, just to the left of the D. A powerful shot towards the top left. Lunin parries it with a strong arm. The ball breaks to Raphinha, who tries to tee up a team-mate in the centre, only for Militao to extend a leg and divert it out for a corner. From the set piece, Martinez heads a decent chance over from eight yards.

27 min: … so having said that, Bellingham immediately breaks it with a burst down the middle. Barca get away with it, though, the Real midfielder taking an uncharacteristically agricultural touch and running the ball out for a goal kick.

26 min: Another big chance goes begging! Mbappe juggles his way down the inside-left channel before flicking infield for Camavinga, who bursts into the box before finding that ever-rippled side netting. Then up pops the flag. Barca’s renowned offside trap working well for them so far.

24 min: Pedri is down with a sore ankle. Tchouameni caught him late. It was unintentional but clumsy. A very sore one. But good news: the medical man’s spray is magic, and after a quick squirt, Pedri is soon up and about again.

22 min: Vinicius dribbles elegantly in from the left, leaves the flailing Kounde for dust, and drags a shot wide of goal from six yards. Everyone’s left their shooting boots at home.

21 min: Rudiger’s awful clearance gives Yamal the opportunity to drive forward. He lays off to Raphinha, who skies a shot from the edge of the D. Both sides have served up some pretty risible defending so far, and are fortunate the attacking, while very pretty at times, has been profligate.

19 min: Mbappe is sent scampering into acres down the right. He draws Pena before rolling across the face of the box towards Vinicius, who leans back and slices over the bar. An egregious waste, though again the offside flag spares blushes. Absolutely the correct decision this time, with Barca laying a Postecoglou-esque offside trap on the halfway line.

18 min: Barca string a few passes together, probing this way and that. The league leaders are refusing to be cowed by the intimidating Bernabeu atmosphere.

16 min: I mean, you could argue that Bellingham should never have given the keeper the opportunity to make his gymnastic intervention. But you’d require a heart of stone to do so. It was a quite outrageous save … and yeah, again it’s all academic, given the offside flag, but the point stands.

14 min: Camavinga rolls a pass down the left for Mbappe, who rolls across for Bellingham, sliding in at the far post. Bellingham must surely score, and he sticks out a telescopic leg to prod home, but somehow Pena, diving backwards, claws off the line sensationally. That’s one of the great saves, and though the flag then goes up for an offside earlier in the move, take nothing away from it. What a save!

13 min: Barca respond by immediately sending Yamal on a drive down the middle. He scoops a weird shot straight at Lunin, who is grateful for the snaffle. Good fun this, already!

12 min: A simple long ball down the middle nearly costs Barcelona. Cubarsi doesn’t know whether to attempt a headed clearance upfield or guide the ball back to the keeper. In the end he does neither, dismally cushioning into the path of Mbappe, who attempts to lob Pena from 40 yards. A fine effort only just clears the bar.

11 min: Militao nicks the foot of Raphinha, who needs a while to recover. Thankfully the Barca winger is up and about again quickly enough.

10 min: Yamal wedges a ball down the inside-left channel. It drops over Lewandowski’s shoulder, but the striker can’t connect with his swinging leg and the ball sails out for a goal kick. Half a chance that. The sort the volley-happy Robbie Fowler used to fancy.

8 min: Mendy’s appalling heavy touch allows Yamal the opportunity to snatch possession and attack down the right. Mendy breathes again as the delivery is no good. All a bit scrappy early doors as the nerves settle.

7 min: Camavinga bullies a dithering Kounde in order to seize possession of the ball on the halfway line, but his pass down the flank for Mbappe is no good. Kounde needs to wake up quicksmart.

5 min: Valverde’s second corner is headed behind for take three. Pena punches the final one of the sequence away with confidence. Real on top in these early stages.

4 min: Vinicius dribbles down the left and wins the first corner of the evening. Valverde swings it to the near post, where it’s only half cleared, and Vinicius earns a second take.

2 min: Camavinga spins and passes down the inside-left channel in one smooth movement, releasing Mbappe on goal. Mbappe reaches the box, opens his body, and slams a sidefoot into the near side netting. He should have scored. His blushes are spared as the flag pops up for offside, though an initial replay suggests that might have been closer than it looked to the naked eye. The striker and Kounde looked suspiciously level. VAR would have had to get the rulers out … though it’s all academic now, of course.

1 min: Real are immediately on the front foot, Valverde making a nuisance of himself down the right. Mbappe then reaches a ball on the byline and hooks it into the centre, but it’s easy for Pena, and the flag goes up for offside anyway.

Real get the ball rolling. The Bernabeu is bouncing. “I must say I haven’t been this excited for an El Clásico in a while,” writes Philip Amadi-Emina. “Bring it on! On another note I still think Real Madrid don’t and never needed Mbappe. The signing still feels like rims on a Lamborghini.”

Anyway, the players are out … and the home fans are giving it plenty. We’ll be off in a minute.

Real Madrid are on a good run against Barcelona. The Catalans last won el clásico in the league in March 2023, 2-1 at Camp Nou, a match played a couple of weeks after a 1-0 win in the semi-final of the Copa del Rey at the Bernabeu. But then Real won the second leg of that cup semi 4-0 in Barcelona, and since then it’s been the Jude Bellingham show, the young English star notching injury-time winners in Catalonia later that October, and back in Madrid this April. Fold in the January final of the Supercopa and Real are looking to make it five competitive wins in a row.

“These two might, just might, actually be the best teams in Europe again; this could be a battle the way it used to be, closer and more competitive than anyone anticipated … a clash of styles and identities … a clash of titans.” Allow the good doctor to set the scene.

The reigning champions Real Madrid are without Rodrygo and Thibaut Courtois, both of whom are injured. They’re two of three changes to their starting XI after the 5-2 comeback win over Borussia Dortmund, with club captain Luka Modrić dropping to the bench; Aurélien Tchouaméni and Eduardo Camavinga step into the midfield, while Andriy Lunin is in goal.

Barcelona by contrast are unchanged in the wake of their 4-1 rout of Bayern Munich. Gavi, on his way back from long-term injury, is on the bench and will hope to add to the 12 minutes he’s managed as a sub against Sevilla and Bayern since his return last weekend.

The teams

Preamble