45′ + 1′ HALF-TIME: BORUSSIA MONCHENGLADBACH 1-0 REAL MADRID.
44′ Vinicius switches to the right to try and get on the ball and pulls away from Bensebaini. His first touch is a heavy one but he manages to keep hold of it and cross it to the far post. Benzema switched his run to the near post though and Gladbach are able to clear their lines.
42′ Madrid look out of ideas on how to get in behind Gladbach at the moment as they continue to keep possession around the halfway line. Vazquez finds some space on the right, but his cross is overhit and flies out of play.
40′ Madrid are being penned back in their own half now as Gladbach patiently play out from the back. They’re looking to get in down the right through Hofmann, but his cross into the box is blocked by Mendy.
38′ GOOD SAVE! Madrid are pushing forward again and Valverde picks out Asensio on the right of the box. He’s at a tight angle but he decides to go for goal and try to catch Sommer out at his near post, but the goalkeeper smothers the shot.
37′ Lainer plays a throughball down the right wing for Hofmann to run onto and it looks like he’s got away from Mendy. The left-back receivers well though and makes a good tackle to win it back from him.
35′ Just like before the goal, Madrid are keeping the ball well, but most of their possession is in their own half. They’re trying to push forward, but they’re struggling to find a way through Gladbach at the moment.
33′ Plea pulls away from Mendy and curls a lovely low cross into the middle of the box to Thuram that takes the Madrid defenders out of the game.
33′ GLADBACH LEAD! And it’s a brilliant goal! Madrid have a lot of chances to clear their lines, but they just can’t do it. Plea plays a wonderful cross into him and Thuram hits the shot first time, firing it into the top-right corner of the net. 1-0 Gladbach!
31′ Hofmann gets in behind Ramos and is picked out by Stindl’s throughball. He makes a run to the left of the box before firing a shot back across goal which is blocked by Varane, but it wouldn’t have counted anyway as the offside flag has gone up.
29′ GOOD SAVE! The Gladbach defenders sit back as Kroos makes a run to the edge of the box so he decides to have a shot. His effort is curling in at the far post but Sommer gets two strong hands to it to tip it wide.
28′ Kroos plays a loose pass forward and it’s cut out by Lainer who instantly looks to set Gladbach on the attack. He plays a throughball forward to try and pick out Plea, but it’s cut out by Casemiro.
26′ Valverde weaves through Gladbach’s midfield to try and get into the box, but he’s tugged back by Stindl and wins a free-kick in a good position. Madrid choose to play it short instead of putting a cross into the box and Valverde can’t keep it in.
24′ Madrid are keeping the ball well at the moment and are happy to keep possession in their own half as they try to force Gladbach out of their own half. Some space opens up for Asensio down the right, but Hofmann nicks it off him.
22′ It’s a great run by Thuram down the left that isn’t picked up by Madrid. He cuts inside to get into the box, but he takes too long to pick out a cross and Varane is able to get a foot to it. It almost falls to Plea, but Ramos is back to intercept it.
20′ Sommer is put under pressure after Bensebaini plays the ball back to him. He has to backtrack so Asensio can’t block his clearance before turning away from Benzema and clearing his lines.
18′ Kroos floats a good cross into the middle of the box and Vinicius is the closest to it for Madrid. He brings it down well with his first touch but can’t get a shot away as Elvedi slides in with a perfectly timed tackle to dispossess him.
16′ GOOD CHANCE! Vazquez chips the ball over Gladbach’s backline to pick out Benzema’s run into the box. He chests it down and hits the shot on the volley, but fires his effort high and wide of the top-right corner.
14′ Madrid have failed to win either of their previous two away trips to face Gladbach (D1 L1), with this their first visit since November 1985 when they lost 1-5 in the UEFA Cup last 16.
12′ Lainer cuts inside from the right and has time to pick out his cross. He floats the ball towards the far post where Plea is running onto it, but Courtois comes rushing off his line to collect it.
10′ Thuram knocks the ball past Valverde and has space to run into down the left. He plays a throughball forward for Plea to chase, but it’s overhit and Varane gets to it first to win back possession.
8′ Casemiro has the first chance of the game for Madrid when he finds himself in a pocket of space on the edge of the box. He drills his shot towards goal, but it’s just wide of the near post.
6′ Gladbach have barely had a touch of the ball in the game so far and they’re on the back foot again. Vinicius turns past Kramer and is making a driving run into the box, but Ginter reads it well and makes an important tackle to dispossess him.
4′ Madrid are on the attack again and this time, Kroos switches play out to Mendy on the left. He has Vinicius making an overlapping run on the outside, but his throughball is cut out by Lainer.
2′ Benzema runs into space down the right and pulls away from Elvedi to whip a cross into the box. The goalkeeper is scrambling to his near post in case he needs to tip it over, but it lands on the roof of the net.
1′ Benzema gets the game underway for Madrid!
The teams are out on the pitch now, with kick-off just moments away.
Having suffered defeats in their last three Champions League games, Madrid face the possibility of losing four consecutive matches across all European competitions for the first time in their history.
Zinedine Zidane makes just one change to the team that started against Barcelona on Saturday and it’s an enforced one as Vazquez comes in to replace the injured Nacho.
Marco Rose makes five changes to the side that beat Mainz at the weekend. Bensebaini, Neuhaus, Thuram, Hofmann and Plea all come into the starting line-up. Jantschke, Wendt, Reitz, Embolo and Herrmann drop to the bench.
REAL MADRID SUBS: Marcelo, Luka Modric, Eden Hazard, Isco, Diego Altube, Eder Militao, Luka Jovic, Andriy Lunin, Sergio Santos, Rodrygo.
REAL MADRID STARTING XI (4-3-3): Thibaut Courtois; Lucas Vasquez, Raphael Varane, Sergio Ramos, Ferland Mendy; Federico Valverde, Casemiro, Toni Kroos; Marco Asensio, Karim Benzema, Vinicius Junior.
BORUSSIA MONCHENGLADBACH SUBS: Michael Lang, Ibrahima Traore, Rocco Reitz, Valentino Lazaro, Laszlo Benes, Oscar Wendt, Breel Embolo, Hannes Wolf, Max Grun, Tony Jantschke, Patrick Herrmann, Tobias Sippel.
BORUSSIA MONCHENGALDBACH STARTING XI (4-2-3-1): Yann Sommer; Stefan Lainer, Matthias Ginter, Nico Elvedi, Ramy Bensebaini; Christoph Kramer, Florian Neuhaus; Jonas Hofmann, Lars Stindl, Marcus Thuram; Alassane Plea.
Madrid opened their Champions League season with a shock 3-2 defeat to Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday, which was their second loss on the bounce in all competitions. They bounced back at the weekend though with a 3-1 win over Barcelona in El Clasico. Gladbach drew 2-2 with Inter in their group game last week and are currently unbeaten in their last five matches in all competitions (W2 D3).
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the Champions League Group B meeting between Borussia Monchengladbach and Real Madrid at BORUSSIA-PARK!
