44′ Rivera gets his head up as he picks up the ball in his own half and chooses to go long to En-Nesyri. It’s a good idea but the forward is being tightly marked by Ramos who heads it away.
42′ Benzema is standing over the free-kick that Kroos won just outside the box and he’s going for goal. He curls his shot up and over the wall, but there isn’t enough dip on the effort as it sails over the crossbar.
41′ Bustinza has made a couple of fouls so far but after catching Kroos with a late challenge, the referee brings out the yellow card.
39′ GREAT SAVE! Benzema plays a good one-two with Carvajal on the right of the box and hits his shot first-time when he gets the ball back. He keeps his shot low as he looks for the bottom corner, but Soriano gets down well to make the save.
38′ Kroos puts yet another great cross into the middle of the box and he’s looking for Benzema. The Frenchman tries to go for the spectacular again, this time with a high volley, but Tarin gets ahead of him to head it clear.
36′ Rodrigues finds himself in some space down the left wing and curls a good cross into the box. Varane gets his head to it and the ball loops up into the air, but Courtois comes off his line to collect it.
34′ Whenever Leganes do win possession back, they’re slow to move up the field and out of their own half which is allowing Madrid to put more pressure on them high up the field and cause more problems.
32′ It’s patient build-up from Madrid now as Leganes are starting to close them down higher up the field. The home side are still finding space through the middle, but once it’s given to Hazard down the left, he knocks it out with a sloppy pass.
30′ GREAT CHANCE! Once again, it’s well worked up the field by Madrid with Benzema at the heart of the attack again. He squares it to Rodrygo in the middle of the box, but he fires his effort high over the crossbar from close range.
29′ Leganes have the chance to put some more pressure on Madrid from the corner, but they don’t take the opportunity. It’s a poor cross into the box and Varane rises highest in the middle to clear his lines.
27′ GOOD SAVE! Leganes, out of nowhere, put together a good string of passes to get up the field and set up their first chance. Rodriguez decides to have a go from outside the box and Courtois gets fingertips to it to push it away.
26′ The penalty looks to have deflated Leganes as Madrid begin to push forward once again from the restart. Kroos puts a cross into the middle of the box but Tarin reaches it ahead of Benzema to head it clear.
Sergio Ramos
Penalty Goal
24′ THIS TIME HE SCORES! It’s much better from the Madrid captain this time as he sends his penalty into the bottom right corner and sends Soriano the wrong way. 3-0 Madrid!
Juan Soriano
Yellow Card
24′ Soriano picks up the first yellow card of the game as VAR judged that he had moved off his line to make the save for Ramos’ penalty.
24′ VAR are talking to the referee again as they’ve spotted that Soriano moved off his line before Ramos struck the ball and the referee points to the spot once again and Ramos has a second chance to take the spot-kick.
Penalty Save
23′ SORIANO SAVES IT! It’s not a great penalty from Ramos as he sends it down the middle of the goal without a lot of power on the effort and Soriano gets down well to make the save and deny him.
22′ PENALTY TO MADRID! Hazard is unmarked as he makes a run into the box and Soriano is quickly off his line to try and smother the chance but he ends up catching the Belgian and the referee points to the spot.
21′ GREAT CHANCE! Varane gets forward and puts a very good cross into the middle of the box. The Leganes defenders miss it and Benzema goes for the overhead kick. He can’t get it on target though and it bounces wide of the far post.
20′ GOOD SAVE! Benzema has his back to goal so touches the ball onto Kroos on the edge of the box instead. He takes the shot first time and drills it low towards the bottom corner, but Soriano gets fingertips to it to deny him.
18′ Leganes are enjoying a good spell of possession at the moment, but all of their passes are being played between their defenders. Soriano decides to go long to try and set up an attack, but he puts it straight out of play.
16′ Yet again, Benzema pulls away from his defender as he moves out to the left to get on the end of Hazard’s pass. He tries to curl his effort across goal and into the far top corner, but his shot is always curling wide.
14′ Leganes have barely been able to get out of their own half since the start of the game as they seem to be giving possession away sloppily when they do have a chance to move forward.
12′ Carvajal pushes forward and puts a deep cross into the box to try and pick out Benzema’s run through the middle. Yet again, the defenders can’t get close to him, but luckily for them, the cross is overhit and runs out of play.
10′ Leganes are struggling to keep hold of the ball at the moment as Madrid push forward once again. Rodrygo makes a good run down the right and gets ahead of Silva to put a cross into the box, but Soriano is off his line to collect it.
K. Benzema
Assist
8′ Benzema has been causing Leganes a lot of problems since the start of the game and he gets away from Bustinza to chip a cross to Kross in the six-yard box.
T. Kroos
Goal
8′ THEY HAVE ANOTHER! Benzema gets in behind Leganes once again to pick out Kroos with his cross. It’s a clever finish from the German as he flicks the cross past Soriano with the outside of his foot. 2-0 Madrid!
K. Benzema
Assist
7′ Benzema drifted out to the right to pick up the ball and he pulls away from Silva to pick out Rodrygo’s run into the six-yard box.
Rodrygo
Goal
7′ MADRID LEAD! Leganes should’ve cleared their lines when they had the chance and they’re punished for it. It’s a good cross into the box and Rodrygo is unmarked in the six-yard box and taps the ball into the back of the net. 1-0 Madrid!
6′ It’s a great cross into the box from Rodrygo and Benzema brings it down with a good first touch but can’t keep it under his control which allows Omeruo to get back and intercept it, but he doesn’t clear it like he should.
4′ Madrid are pushing forward again and this time Benzema drifts out to the left so that he can pick up the ball. He chips a cross into the box and it takes a deflection before going out, but much to his frustration, the referee awards a goal-kick.
2′ Benzema makes a darting run through midfield but just has to hold it up as he waits for support. He lays it off to Marcelo before running into the box to reach the left-back’s cross, but he’s beaten to it by Tarin.
1′ En-Nesyri gets the game underway for Leganes!
The teams are out on the pitch now, with kick-off just moments away.
Madrid have only lost one of their last 21 LaLiga games against Madrilenian sides (W13 D7) whilst Leganes have lost three of their last five (W1 D1), including the last two in a row.
Luis Cembranos makes six changes to the team that started against Mallorca at the weekend, with Soriano, Omeruo, Tarin, Rodrigues, Awaziem and En-Nesyri all starting. Cuellar, Rosales, Recio and Carrillo all drop to the bench, while Roque Mesa isn’t involved in the squad.
Zinedine Zidane names an unchanged side to the one that beat Galatasaray in the Champions League in their last game. Gareth Bale, Nacho and Marco Asensio are all unavailable due to injuries, while Alvaro Odriozola is suspended after being sent off in their last league game.
LEGANES SUBS: Ivan Cuellar, Roberto Rosales, Aitor Ruibal, Jose Arnaiz, Guido Carrillo, Recio, Javier Aviles.
LEGANES STARTING XI (4-2-3-1): Juan Soriano; Unai Bustinza, Rodrigo Tarin, Kenneth Omeruo, Jonathan Silva; Christian Rivera, Chidozie Awaziem; Martin Braithwaite, Oscar Rodriguez, Kevin Rodrigues; Youssef En-Nesyri.
REAL MADRID SUBS: Alphonse Areola, Luka Jovic, Isco, Ferland Mendy, Luka Modric, Eder Militao, Lucas Vazquez.
REAL MADRID STARTING XI (4-3-3): Thibaut Courtois; Dani Carvajal, Raphael Varane, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo; Federico Valverde, Casemiro, Toni Kroos; Rodrygo, Karim Benzema, Eden Hazard.
Leganes were on a nine-match winless run in the league, sitting bottom of the table after drawing two and losing seven of their opening games. But, they finally recorded their first victory at the weekend by beating Mallorca 1-0. Madrid, on the other hand, have lost just one of their last seven games in all competitions (W4 D2), although that did come in their last outing in LaLiga when they were beaten 1-0 by Mallorca.
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the LaLiga meeting between Real Madrid and Leganes at the Santiago Bernabeu!
Bustinza
Yellow Card