well what a game we have in store for you today the hype has been building
all week and the fans are pouring into the stadium the tension palpable stay
tuned we'll have all the action for you live from the bernabeu here on ea tv
hello and welcome to one of the most recognizable venues in world football the estadio santiago
bentley here in madrid i'm derek ray on the commentary gantry and delighted to be joined as
always by stuart robson and the focus is on one of the finest leagues in world football la liga
it's barcelona taking on real madrid well thanks derek as always the scene is set two good teams
great playing surface and a vibrant atmosphere has all the ingredients for a really exciting game
in central midfield and leading the attack today is memphis
and let's dissect the real madrid side thibault courtois is the keeper of choice federal mendy
plays with carvajal in the full back positions tony course starts with casimiro in the center
of the pitch and operating through the middle in attack today karim benzema
uh
a really exciting game and prospects as real madrid get it underway
showing considerable guile well it's a really poor challenge now what's the referee going to do about
it so we have an early booking here to report us yeah i think the referee is absolutely right he's
just making it clear to all the players out there he's not going to take any messing about here
into the box it goes i think it's fair to say the pressure from the defender puts him off of me
tony course
moving the ball effectively finishing with junior and return to benzema vinicius junior
mendy kareem benzema in the thick of things i'll be dealt with that ball played in rather well
sergio busquets
bad challenge and now it's up to the referee in terms of what to do next
and that is going to mean a caution the referee is absolutely right he knew what he was doing there
and fired from the flank into the area not a chance but he couldn't take advantage of it
uh
modric
beautiful pass
vinicius junior
of course and even stegen might wonder how on earth he got there
uh
another short corner routine shot attention well fantastic reflex action
and deciding to go short for this one can he finish here
well that's sad to put in a clean tackle the free-kick decision goes the way of barcelona
pk
and torres on the ball frankie deyoung dembele
splendid defending from
over the touch line for a throw in
jordi alba
well sadly they just couldn't keep possession
kareem benzema is with vinicius junior modric
benzema could play it in not all that hard to deal with crosses like that
an encouraging move from basa
still on level terms moving the ball nicely
can he play us in however nothing comes of it and across the by line a goal kick as a result
modric
modric unable to hang on to the ball
goodbye torres
and teammates to play it too
this looks promising
sergio busquets setting off perhaps a little bit too much here
he ran the situation defensively and did his job
well as you can see it's been really tight and neither side has taken enough risk going forward
hopefully that will change soon and then we might get some entertainment
frankie deyoung
and unable to pick out a teammate and that'll be a throw
mandy
casemiro
is with vinicius junior well if you're wondering about out of time two minutes it'll be force
mindy
can he put them in front oh yes what's a classy goal and make no mistake
there aren't many in the game who would have the confidence to even try it well here it is
again and what can you say about this that's a great bit of skill and a brilliant goal
and that is that's half time here on the spanish capital
luca modric a man at the hub of so many things creative bringing his influence to
bayer stuart well he certainly had an impact on that first half scoring that late goal
but i thought his overall contribution was really good and he got better as the half
well back underway with bossa hoping to find an effective route back into the game
deyong
now busquets
oh good use of the ball
jordi alba temple answer jordi alba and batman temple
well it looks highly promising but they got nothing out of it
well the counter chance looks very real
and modric carries it forward let's see what he does next
and whipped into the box well cleared away
effective challenge
dembele
alba
on the ball
torres are still searching for the equalizer but not passing it anxiously
ferran torres well read to ease the pressure
now can they make something happen well when you sit off like this you invite pressure
no surprise there barcelona have enjoyed most of the possession but their attacking play
hasn't been good enough so far there's been too many safe passes and no real penetration
they certainly need to up the tempo if they're going to get back into this one
chance to play it in however nothing comes of it
and it is substitution time at this juncture not just from one side but from both
i must say that wasn't a textbook throw-in routine stuart
well that would have been a fine from the club back in my day it's so sloppy
well the perfect tackle really and now a throw in
defense of brazilians to shut them down
it's a weighted pass dubai well played in from the flag but not to any great effect
rodrigo benzema the ball with luka modric well they keep passing away benzema
and options in the center don't keep us bald lacrosse delivered too close to him
ferran torres well slightly off target
and that'll be a throw-in well real madrid are going to make the change now
oh that's a fine pass and the attack looks promising and clears his lines
now we're inside the final 10 minutes in this one
deyoung now johnny alba
oh nice ball over the top to chase pretty straightforward defending dealing with that cross
well not covering himself in glory defensively over the byline hence a girl kick
ricky puig and torres on the ball
time against barcelona but you can't count them out defy and a tidy tackle
we're adding up all the stoppages we will have two extra minutes
tremendous intuition to win it back advantage barcelona
pk and the referee brings this match to an end not to be for barcelona they've lost this game
what did you make of it well derek not quite good enough today yes they only lost by one
goal but i never felt they would control the game a frustrating day around for the
coach to think about for the next time luka modric tends to bring a calm authority to
any game how would you sum up what he produced well he was excellent today and he gave them
that all-important lead they just struggled to cope with him his movement was so clever