Key events
55 min: Rashford has a pop at goal from distance but it’s blocked by Camavinga. Rashford then finds Balde in behind but his ball across goal evades everyone in a Barcelona shirt.
53 min: Huge chance for Barcelona! Fermín drives through the middle of Madrid’s midfield and has Rashford to his left but decides to shoot himself – straight down Courtois’s throat!
Szczesny saves Mbappé’s penalty!
Mbappé goes to his left but it’s the right height for Szczesny to stick out a strong hand to tip it over the bar!
Penalty to Real Madrid! García has his hands on his head as the referee points to the spot. Mbappé will take …
The referee, Cesar Soto Grado, heads to the monitor … replays show that the ball ricochets off García and Bellingham, with the ball coming off García’s arm. It looks a complete accident.
49 min: Rashford loses out to Camavinga on the edge of the Barcelona box and Bellingham rampages into the area, García smothering the ball out for a corner. Madrid want a penalty for handball from García as he slid the ball out of play.
48 min: Vinicius tests Szczesny at his near post. Tchouameni heads the resulting corner over the bar. End to end again – didn’t take long.
47 min: Rashford sets off down the left, comes inside and plays the ball to Fermín on the edge of the box. The Spaniard’s effort is tame and Courtois gathers. That was a good chance for Rashford to really go at the Madrid defence.
Second half begins
The ball is rolling again as Ferran gets us back under way. No changes at the break. More of the same, please.
“Not sure that Yamal can pull something out of nothing today,” writes Chris. “That injury is clearly hampering him, preventing him from those bursts of speed that characterize his best movement.”
The 18-year-old missed Spain’s October international fixtures because of a recurring groin injury. He’s played almost 150 senior games of football already in his career.
Xabi Alonso has been bold with his setup – it seems to be a case of we’ll just score more goals than you with up to five attacking players on the field, plus the full-backs. Bellingham and Guler are finding so much space in the Barcelona half and De Jong and Pedri are struggling to cope.
Hansi Flick, or rather Marcus Sorg, has to find a solution at half-time because a 2-1 scoreline flatters them at this stage. Rashford and Yamal can produce something out of nothing but that’s not really a sensible approach.
Half-time: Real Madrid 2-1 Barcelona
Pretty breathless stuff at the Bernabéu. Jude Bellingham’s goal is the difference at the break after Fermín López had cancelled out Kylian Mbappé’s opener.
45+5 min: Ferran swivels and shoots from the edge of the box but it’s easy for Courtois.
45+4 min: Balde does well to deny Mbappé the chance to get a shot away after he was set up by Bellingham.
A por ello, cry the home crowd – get after them! They smell blood before half-time.
Six minute of stoppage time. Madrid seem to outnumber Barcelona every time when going forward.
45 min: Vinicius leads De Jong a merry dance by the corner flag. He picks out Guler, whose ball over the top finds Bellingham. After Szczesny stops a prodded shot, Mbappé tucks in the rebound but the flag is up!
Barcelona want a foul for Huijsen’s aerial challenge on Cubarsí when the ball was headed across goal but the referee and VAR say no.
GOAL! Real Madrid 2-1 Barcelona (Bellingham 43)
Madrid go back in front! Vinicius’s looping cross is headed back across goal by Militão and Bellingham has a simple tap-in.
41 min: Barcelona go on the break with Pedri, whose ball back across the penalty area is headed out for a corner by Camavinga. Rashford’s corner is flicked goalwards by Fermín and Courtois makes a diving save!
Unselfish from Rashford, who gets his 7th assist in 13 games for Barcelona. Fermín López follows up his hat-trick against Olympiakos with a goal here.
GOAL! Real Madrid 1-1 Barcelona (Fermín 38)
We’re level! Guler has his pocket picked by Pedri on the edge of his own box. Balde finds Rashford, who squares it for Fermín to convert. Courtois got a hand on it but not enough.
37 min: Carreras picks out Bellingham but his shot is low and easy for Szczesny to gather.
35 min: Szczesny is called into action at the other end as Vinicius cuts inside and bends one. Madrid take the corner quickly but it comes to nothing.
33 min: Big chance for Barcelona! The ball falls to Ferran inside the area and his shot doesn’t have enough pace on it to beat Courtois, who dives down to his left to gather.
31 min: Madrid win another corner after Mbappé threatens again. Rashford goes down holding his face but is soon up again to help defend.
30 min: Another save from Szczesny! Huijsen gets on the end of a cross from deep and stretches to prod a shot on goal. The Barcelona keeper is there deny him.
29 min: Bellingham wins a free-kick off García. Valverde takes it quickly to Mbappé, who spins Cubarsí and forces a save from Szczesny.
28 min: The home crowd enjoy it as Vinicius goes in heavy on Yamal after a loose touch from the teenager. Barcelona’s front three have seen so little of the ball.
26 min: Bellingham’s deflected shot wins a corner for Madrid. Valverde then smashes an effort over from the edge of the box with his left foot.
25 min: Bellingham’s winning the battle of the Brits so far. His swivel past Pedri in midfield was good but the pass through to Mbappé was better. Rashford is yet to get into the game.
There’s a nervous pause before the game resumes as VAR confirms Mbappé was indeed onside. Madrid lead!
GOAL! Real Madrid 1-0 Barcelona (Mbappé 22)
Mbappé has the ball in the back of the net again! Bellingham turns Pedri and splits the Barcelona defence with a ball through to Mbappé, who slots past Szczesny.
21 min: Yamal wants a free-kick as he tussles with Carreras on the touchline. Madrid are up in arms after a challenge from Ferran on Militão. Who’d want to referee this one?
19 min: Guler, Bellingham and Camavinga are picking up advanced positions behind the front pairing of Mbappé and Vinicius, with Tchouameni sitting. It’s very attacking and very unpredictable. It could also be a problem for Alonso out of possession.
17 min: Vinicius drives at Koundé down Madrid’s left but the Frenchman closes his legs just in time to stop the winger going past him.
Mbappé was marginally offside as Guler prodded it away from Fermín.
Goal ruled out! An offside in the buildup chalks off an unbelievable opener. Another lucky escape for Barcelona.
12 min: What a strike from Mbappé! Fermín loses the ball inside his own half for Barcelona. It drops to Mbappé some 25 yards from goal, sits up nicely and he thwacks it past Szczesny into the back of the net! Golazo. The referee is checking for offside …
Hansi Flick’s red card last weekend against Girona means he’s got a touchline ban today. His assistant Marcus Sorg is in the dugout.
9 min: In trademark fashion, Yamal cuts inside on his left foot and curls a shot wide of the far post. Courtois was worried enough to dive to his right to see it on its way.
8 min: It’s been a very open start to the game. Madrid have just settled into it after a very nervy opening minute or two.
Contentious to say the least. It wasn’t obvious whether Vinicius kicked Yamal or the other way round. The referee changed his mind and gave it Barcelona’s way.
Hang on, the referee is heading to the monitor. Yamal possibly gets the ball first. Decision reversed – no penalty! Free-kick to Barcelona instead.
3 min: Penalty to Real Madrid! They counter from that corner and Bellingham plays the ball out to Vinícius. Yamal dangles his foot and catches the Brazilian and the referee points to the spot!
2 min: Rashford has the first chance of the game as Huijsen gives the ball away in his defensive third. Rashford’s shot is blocked by Militão and out for a corner, which Courtois punches away.
Kick-off
We’re under way! Whistles around the ground as Lamine Yamal is shown on the big screen for the first time.
The teams are out at the Bernabéu. The roof is closed and it’s bound to be loud. Kick-off is a couple of minutes away.
Another subplot of today’s game is the collapse of La Liga’s plans to play Barcelona’s away game at Villarreal in Miami in December.
La Liga have tried moving matches abroad before – five times, in fact, with four of them involving Barcelona.
Real Madrid have long been opposed to the idea and Thibaut Courtois spoke out against it before December’s move to Miami was binned.
Last season’s clásicos produced 23 goals in total from four games – Barcelona won all four, including 4-0 at the Bernabéu in the league:
La Liga
Real Madrid 0-4 Barcelona
Barcelona 4-3 Real Madrid
Copa del Rey (final)
Barcelona 3-2 Real Madrid (after extra-time)
Supercopa (final)
Real Madrid 2-5 Barcelona
Strap in, then.
There is major star power on both sides at the Bernabéu today in Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal. Barcelona’s teenage sensation has been poking the bear a bit this week with comments on an online stream that Real Madrid “rob and complain”.
Xabi Alonso was asked about those comments in his pre-match press conference yesterday. “It’s an important match … important enough,” he said. “It has many ingredients for us to play well, for us to enjoy it. And that’s what excites us the most, the biggest incentive for tomorrow.”
Then he was asked about them again: “No, I’m not going to get into that. There have been a lot of statements from people in Barcelona and I can’t comment on them all. For us, the important thing is the pitch, what happens on the pitch. Where we’ve come from and what lies ahead. That’s what concerns me most and what we’ve been working on.”
Then he was asked about them a third time: “Are we going back to that? What I have in my head is that it’s going to be an intense and competitive match. We have to be prepared because there will be moments for everything. The players have to have the necessary adrenaline. I’m not thinking about other consequences.”
Sid has also been making the case for el clásico to still be the biggest game in club football and … well, it’s hard to argue with him.
In Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford, there is an Englishman apiece in the Real Madrid and Barcelona starting XIs – the first time that has happened in a clásico in La Liga, as Sid Lowe explains:
Captain Fede Valverde continues at right-back for Real Madrid, while Trent Alexander-Arnold – out since mid-September with a hamstring injury – is fit enough for a place on the bench.
Arda Guler is given the nod by Xabi Alonso ahead of Rodrygo and Franco Mastantuono in those attacking positions behind Kylian Mbappé.
Marcus Rashford is handed a start in his first clásico for Barcelona after scoring twice against Olympiakos in midweek.
Fermín López is also rewarded for his hat-trick in the Champions League with a place in the XI. Raphinha is not fit enough to make the bench.
Pau Cubarsí and Eric García are preferred to Ronald Araújo at centre-back.
Starting lineups
Real Madrid (4-2-3-1): Courtois; Valverde, Militão, Huijsen, Carreras; Tchouameni, Camavinga; Guler, Bellingham, Vinícius; Mbappé.
Subs: Lunin, Carvajal, Alexander-Arnold, Mendy, Asencio, F García, Ceballos, Brahim, Mastantuono, Endrick, Rodrygo, G García.
Barcelona (4-2-3-1): Szczesny; Koundé, Cubarsí, García, Baldé; Pedri, De Jong; Lamine Yamal, López, Rashford, Torres.
Subs: Kochen, Aller, Martín, Torrents, Araújo, D Fernández, Bernal, Casadó, Espart, Bardghji, T Fernández.
Preamble
Hello and welcome. Hoy jugamos. Real Madrid and Barcelona meet for the first time this season against a tense backdrop of political squabbles, player jibes and a failed attempt to move La Liga matches abroad. So, same as usual, eh?
The Santiago Bernabéu plays host to el clásico this afternoon, with the game kicking off at 4.15pm local time (3.15pm GMT). Xabi Alonso’s Madrid are top of the league, two points ahead of Hansi Flick’s defending champions in second. A home win today would have major ramifications for the title race.
There has been particular angst in the Spanish capital this week about La Liga’s failed efforts to take Villarreal v Barcelona to Miami in December, with Real Madrid’s Thibaut Courtois saying it would distort the competition. Lamine Yamal has stoked the flames a bit by telling the Twitch streamer Ibai Llanos that Real Madrid “rob and complain”. It’s sure to be feisty.
Team news is on the way. If you’ve got any skin in the game, feel free to send me an email with your thoughts as we go.
