Real Madrid v Atlético Madrid: La Liga – live

24 mins: Great interplay between Mbappé and Vinicius gets Real cooking down their right – before red and white shirts ferry back to hold them up. Simeone continues to move his chess pieces around, hoping to frustrate the old enemy. He’ll be happy enough.

23 mins: Atletico’s early counterattacking threat has fizzled out and they’re looking rather blunt now.

21 mins: Great play from Ceballos to glide through defenders nearly sets up Mbappé in the box. Corner to the home side – who are threatening a little more now.

20 mins: The interchanging of the Real forwards’ positions continues, with Bellingham drifting around and Vinicius trying to come central. It’s not fooling Atletico at the moment.

Vini has been struggling to get into the game but suddenly finds a yard and unleashes a drilled left-footed shot – which is wide.

18 mins: No disrespect to him, but you cannot help feel Vázquez is the weak-link in this Real Madrid lineup, especially playing as a makeshift full-back. You can see why they’re targeting Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Rodrygo tries his luck from miles out and it’s way over the crossbar.

16 mins: Again no inch is given by Bellingham – he’s hurling himself into tackles to try and win it back high up the pitch for Madrid. Atletico are struggling to get out of their own half.

Can Real break down Simeone’s stubborn, structured side?

13 mins: With Lino playing as a left wing-back, it’s basically a 5-3-2 from Atletico tonight.

It is the Brazilian who arrows a right-footed effort just wide of goal. That’s the first proper shot of the game.

12 mins: Bellingham unleashes a volley of Brummie-accented English abuse towards the assistant referee when a throw-in call goes against him and Real. That felt a little jarring to listen to on the effects mic.

10 mins: Mbappé is dropping into the No 10 position in search of some touches of the ball, trying to dictate play for the home side.

Alvarez’s attempt to bring it away for Atleti is rapidly snuffed out and Real are back on the attack again.

8 mins: Rodrygo wriggles away from trouble on the Real right and believes he should have earned a corner. Galan got back at him … but I think a goal-kick was the right call actually.

7 mins: Atletico aren’t struggling to play through Real, as it stands. They’re playing some penetrative passes into the channels, with Lino and Simeone getting into good areas.

The England boss Thomas Tuchel is in the ground watching tonight, by the way.

5 mins: Oh that’s a massive missed opportunity for Atleti. Lino finds himself in acres of space after an error on the ball from Lucas Vázquez and it’s a really simple ball for Griezmann – who would have been in on goal – but Lino got it wrong.

A let-off for Real.

3 mins: That’s a hefty challenge from Bellingham on Marcos Llorente. It’s just a free-kick, but it was very forceful and a little high.

2 mins: It’s no surprise to see Atletico go long from kickoff and then sit deep in their usual 4-4-2 shape when they cede possession. Real are seeing lot of the ball early on.

Simeone is then sent down the visitors’ right, with Asencio tackling him.

KICK OFF

Only 600 Atletico fans are in the stadium tonight. They’re going to have to make themselves heard.

Kylian Mbappé collects his La Liga player of the month award before kickoff. The Frenchman is starting to hit his stride for Real, which should be a worry for all their rivals.

Marcelo, recently retired, is also paraded in front of the fans – there’s a rapturous reception for him!

Sooner or later, this thing will kick off.

The Bernabéu is awash with colour and noise and we’re just about ready for one of world football’s greatest derbies. Cannot wait.

Real Madrid’s form has been generally good of late, but it’s easy to forget they actually lost their last La Liga game, 1-0 at Espanyol, which was a real stinker of a performance. They were thrashed by Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup final in Saudi Arabia but haven’t lost at home since 5 November. Atletico have lost just one away game since 27 October.

Will something give tonight? Where’s your money?

Elsewhere in La Liga Athletic Club de Bilbao continued their hot-streak with a commanding 3-0 home win over fellow top four hopefuls Girona today, while Celta Vigo beat Real Betis 3-2 in a mid-table clash – despite a goal from on-loan Manchester United man Antony. Villarreal boosted their European hopes with a 2-1 win at Las Palmas.

You wonder whether Pep Guardiola and Manchester City will be watching on tonight, given they welcome Real Madrid to the Etihad on Tuesday night for the first leg of their marquee Champions League playoff tie.

Guardiola complained recently that the English football authorities don’t give their clubs a helping hand re fixture schedules, but La Liga have hardly been overly kind to Real, handing them a Saturday night derby before a Tuesday in east Manchester. Such is the way with modern football.

What a welcome! This game is a seriously big deal in the Spanish capital.

This is by no means the only live football game on this evening. Get your eyes around the others.

Real Madrid might have their fair share of defensive injuries – Antonio Rudiger, Eder Militao and Dani Carvajal remain out while David Alaba is still working his way back – but that’s a heck of a squad in terms of depth elsewhere. Camavinga is only deemed ready enough for the bench, with the Tchouaméni-Asencio partnership in central defence the only obvious flaw.

Conor Gallagher doesn’t make the start for Atletico, who will be looking to the in-form Giuliano Simeone – son of head coach Diego, of course – to make an impact from the start. And there’s always super sub Alexander Sørloth to come off the bench and score a goal.

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