27′ It’s now the visitors who are having to sit deeper and soak up some of the pressure, however, they are playing a high press which is stopping Villarreal from getting into their final third.
25′ Good move! Pedraza does really well down the left wing to beat Carvajal and whip a cross into the penalty area that is met by the head of Trigueros. However, his effort is blocked by Mendy and goes out for a corner.
23′ In their previous game, Real Madrid became the third LaLiga team to concede three penalties in a single LaLiga game (since 2006-07) after Sporting de Gijón vs FC Barcelona in 2016 and Getafe vs Sevilla in 2015.
21′ Not too far away! Parejo with a free header inside the penalty area, after a cross in from the right wing but the ball flies over the Madrid crossbar and doesn’t trouble Courtois.
19′ This is a bit better from the hosts now, they are starting to enjoy some possession of their own, but they aren’t causing Madrid any problems, as they look very comfortable.
17′ Villarreal win the first corner of the game after Bacca tries to turn away from Varane, but the centre-back stays with him and blocked his cross, forcing a corner. However, it comes to nothing.
15′ Hazard has looked lively so far for the visitors, he has just been on the end of a heavy challenge by Gaspar in the back of him and this wins Madrid a free-kick just inside their opponents half.
13′ There has only been once opportunity at goal so far and that has been the Mariano header that handed the visitors the lead. Neither keeper has yet to make a save.
11′ Good link up play between Hazard and Mendy down the left wing and they work the ball into the final third. However, Hazard’s low cross into the penalty area is blocked and well cleared by the Villarreal defence.
9′ Villarreal have only won one of their last 10 home LaLiga games against Real Madrid (D5 L4), 1-0 in December 2015, drawing the last three at home.
7′ It’s Madrid with the possession here, keeping the ball well and forcing Villarreal into soaking up the pressure early on in midfield. The hosts are having to get everyone back behind the ball at the moment.
5′ Villarreal have struggled to get going here, they have hardly touched the ball so far and look shocked after conceding so early on. They need to regain their composure quickly before they concede again.
3′ GOAL STANDS! The decision on the pitch is allowed to stand and Real Madrid have the lead, it’s 1-0! Lucas was offside, but as it looks like he didn’t touch the ball, they have allowed the goal. Great start by the visitors.
3′ VAR CHECK! The officials are going to take a look at this goal as it looks like a Real Madrid player may have been offside in the build-up to the goal. As the Villarreal players appealed to the referee about this straight away. Lucas seemed to be offside as both he and Carvajal went for the ball and the linesman put his flag up but play continued as Lucas didn’t seem to touch the ball.
2′ Carvajal cut inside from the right wing, found plenty of time and space and picked out his team-mate superbly with an excellent cross.
2′ GOOOAAALLL! Real Madrid lead 1-0! Mariano with goal after just two minutes played, It’s a lovely cross into the penalty area by Carvajal, who finds the striker at the far post and he dives in and heads it into the back of the net from the edge of the six-yard box.
The teams are out on the pitch and kick-off is just a few minutes away, stay tuned for all the match action!
Meanwhile Real Madrid have made four changes, with a few enforced as Ramos and Benzema miss out due to injury. They have been replaced by Nacho and Mariano. The other four changes see Marcelo, Valverde, Asensio and Vinicius miss out and they have been replaced by Carvajal, Mendy, Odegaard and Hazard.
The hosts name the same side that beat Getafe two weeks ago, in a 4-3-3 formation that sees Gomez, Alcacer and Moreno line up together in attack.
REAL MADRID SUBS: Diego Altube, Andriy Lunin, Marco Asensio, Vinicius Junior, Isco, Victor Chust, Marcelo, Rodrygo.
REAL MADRID (4-3-3): Thibaut Courtois; Daniel Carvajal, Raphael Varane, Nacho, Ferland Mendy; Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, Martin Odegaard; Lucas Vazquez, Eden Hazard, Mariano
VILLARREAL SUBS: Takefusa Kubo, Alex Baena, Fernando Nino, Ramiro Funes Mori, Jaume Costa, Yeremi Pino, Ruben Pena, Francis Coquelin, Samuel Chukwueze, Juan Foyth, Geronimo Rulli, Pervis Estupinan.
VILLARREAL (4-3-3): Sergio Asenjo; Mario Gaspar, Pau Torres, Raul Albiol, Alfonso Pedraza; Daniel Parejo, Manu Trigueros, Vicente Iborra; Gerard Moreno, Moi Gomez, Carlos Bacca.
Madrid suffered a 4-1 defeat against Valencia two weeks ago, so they will hope you get back to winning ways today and they could move up to second in the table, leapfrogging their opponents. However, they will be without a few key players today, with Sergio Ramos and Karim Benzema both unavailable due to injury.
Villarreal have only lost one game so far this season and they are second in LaLiga, two points behind Real Sociedad at the top and two above today’s opponents Real Madrid. They are on a four-game winning streak in all competitions, after beating Getafe 3-1 last time out before the international break.
Hello and welcome to our LIVE match commentary of LaLiga clash between Villarreal and Real Madrid at the Estadio de la Ceramica.
