Real Madrid v Villarreal: La Liga – live! The | Football

63 min Ontiveros takes a free kick on the bar from 25 yards.

62 min A double change for Madrid: Hazard and Rodrygo are replaced by Marco Asensio and Vinicius Junior.

61 min Modric is reserved for what seemed like a good tackle at Ontiveros. I thought Modric had been booked before, but it seems that the yellow card went to Carvajal to dissent.

60 min Mendy charges excitingly between Gomez and Mario, only to cross too close to Asenjo.

60 min Real has the game under control, even if it’s less one-sided than in the first half.

57 min “I have had a substantial weak point for Madrid since the McManaman days there, and like most football fans, I thought the Galacticos era was entertaining,” says Matt Dony. “And then, even though everything has turned a bit sour, there was Bale. A laid back Cardiff boy sucking up the European Cups. I also despise Barcelona and the conceited sanctuary that seems to accompany everything they do. Mes que un club No thanks. In short, this has already been a pretty good season. Madrid taking Barça to the title would be an unexpected bonus. Go Madrid!”

56 min The good news for Barcelona is that they have finally shot the target at Osasuna. The bad news is that they are still losing 1-0.

55 min “Hi Rob,” says Kári Tulinius. “I think the difficulties Zidane has in being qualified as a manager is that it makes top-level management seem absurdly easy. He has the air of someone who appears five minutes before the start and tells his players to go out and have fun. Of course, the failures of genuinely good managers with the same group of players refute it, but Zidane still has that air about him. ”

That is a very cunning observation.

54 min: Good salvation of Asenjo! Modric waved a beautiful pass from the right inside channel to Carvajal, who cut inside two Villarreal defenders and hit a left-footed shot from eight yards that was hit by Asenjo.

53 min Given what is at stake, this has been a slightly bloodless coincidence. I suppose that will change if Villarreal calls and Madrid needs to push for a winner.

49 min Villarreal have had a more positive start in the second half. Morlanes throws a dangerous pass over the Madrid defense that escapes from Moreno.

Villarreal has made a double substitution at the break: Bruno Soriano and Javier Ontiveros are for Ruben Pena and Samuel Chukwueze.

Peep peep! Real is 45 minutes from the title thanks to Karim Benzema’s goal. They controlled the first half against a defensive Villarreal, although without creating many opportunities. With Barcelona losing at home to Osasuna, he will need a three-goal swing, two at Camp Nou, one at the Alfredo di Stefano stadium, to prevent Real from winning the league tonight.

44 min Modric plays a great pass inside Quintilla for Rodrygo, who takes a low cross into the six-yard box that Chakla kicks off the far post.

41 min As things stand, Real is seven points behind Barcelona with one game remaining.

37 min Rodrygo plays a one-two with Modric and lifts a cross that is headed by Chakla.

37 min It is still all Madrid. Villarreal have some good attack options on the bench, so I guess they just want to get to halftime just 1-0 down.

35 min “Benzema,” says Stephen Carr, “could be the most underrated footballer on the planet.”

I wouldn’t kick you out of an online chat room to express that opinion.

34 min Still Barcelona 0-1 Osasuna. Barcelona have had 77 percent of possession and no shot at target.

32 min “Hi Rob,” says Gerry Scott. “Of course, it will never happen, but I think Barça needs to sell Messi. Not only is he the only asset they have that will bring enough money for a larger reconstruction, but any such reconstruction is going to go down while he is there. ”

He’s 33 now, so do you think they’d get as much for him? I know that Real Madrid received a great fee for a 33-year-old Ronaldo, but he will clearly play at the highest level until he is 142.

A risky pass to the center of the field by Chakla He was cut by Casemiro and picked up by Modric, 40 yards from goal. Villarreal was suddenly exposed, and Modric moved into space before playing a simple angled pass to put Benzema in goal. He fired a shot for the first time through Asenjo’s legs from 10 yards. That is his twentieth goal of the season.

The great man gives the lead to Real!

28 min If Real make a Horlicks of this, their final match is at Leganes on Sunday.

26 min Real keeps moving the ball from left to right looking for an opening. Nothing to do right now.

22 min Villarreal have been solid defensively in the first quarter. Despite all his possession, Real hasn’t created much.

19 min Hazard pulls away from Chakla, who pulls him back and is reserved.

As Stephen Carr said … Barcelona is behind at Osasuna’s house. If they don’t win tonight, Madrid will be champion regardless of what happens in this game.

18 min “Good evening Rob,” says Stephen Carr. “Real and Barça are teams at the end of their respective cycles and need major overhauls, but the former seem to be better equipped to advance: Barça is an absolute disaster for a club at the moment” .

Surely they are. Where do you start with that reconstruction?

17 min The resulting corner is headed towards the near post by Varane.

16 min Modric whistles a shot from 25 yards that is besieged by Asenjo. It was quite a comfortable rescue.

15 minutes Casemiro cuts an angled pass over the defense to Benzema, who hooks a volley to the far post. It was a difficult opportunity from a very narrow angle, and the replays suggest it was a cross rather than a shot.

12 min Casemiro runs to a loose ball, 30 yards from the goal, and throws it into orbit.

10 minutes Everything is Real Madrid so far. Villarreal has parked the submarine, with two banks of four shuffling from side to side. (We thought his lineup would be 5-4-1 but he is actually 4-4-2).

8 min It’s Barcelona 0-0 Osasuna, although Barça have had 88 percent possession so far.

7 min It has been a relaxed start from Real. Benzema finds Modric in the space on the right. He looks up and hammers a cross that is stabbed towards the goal by Benzema and comfortably saved by Asenjo.

4 min Lob de Carvajal is claimed by the Asenjo setback.

“Hi Rob” Mark Childs says. “I can’t believe I have compared Zidane to Big Ron in my head, but that was my first thought in response to your point about underestimating Zidane … Don’t you think that some of the disrespect for Zidane is because they have Lacked “relentless consistency”? I don’t look at them long enough to know, but my feeling is that Real have enough great players to win any game and a ‘great’ manager would make them win more games. Owing to great individual performances by the players rather than playing patterns from a great coach?

I know what you mean, but what are Liverpool’s playing patterns? What were Manchester United in 1999? I’m also not sure if this Madrid team is particularly good, that’s why this season has been so impressive. I agree with Big Ron, mind.

What is happening in Italy, I hear you ask.

Barcelona also plays tonight, at Osasuna’s house. If they don’t win, Real will be champion even if they lose 147-0 to Villarreal.

Real Madrid (4-3-3): Courtois Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Mendy; Modrić, Casemiro, Kroos; Rodrygo, Benzema, Hazard.
Substitutes: Areola, Militão, Nacho, Bale, Valverde, Lucas Vázquez, Jović, Asensio, Brahim, Isco, Mariano, Vinicius Júnior.

Villarreal (5-4-1): Asenjo Peña, Mario, Chakla, Pau Torres, Quintillà; Chukwueze, Anguissa, Morlanes, Moi Gómez; Gerard Moreno
Substitutes: Andres Fernandez, Albion, Cazorla, Iborra, Trigueros, Alberto Moreno, Bruno, Ontiveros, Andrei, Lozano, Alex, Fer Nino

Real Madrid is the only team in world football that could go crazy by winning a national title. They have been defined by the European Cup for so long that the League often feels like an afterthought. But since the close it has been their entire world: They have won nine games in a row, showing the kind of relentless consistency from Bayern Munich or Liverpool. A tenth victory tonight, at Villarreal’s home, would take the 34th La Liga title.

It would also be just his third in the past 12 seasons. They have won the Champions League more frequently at the time, a confusing statgasm that reflects the club’s unique identity. The Champions League will be harder to win this year given their 2-1 loss at home to Manchester City in the first leg of their last match of the 16, but a lot has changed since then and it would be foolish to dismiss them. Especially with Zinedine Zidane in charge.

One of these days, Zidane is going to get the credit he deserves for a unique resume as a coach. He has had three tries in the Champions League and beat them all, and is about to win La Liga for the second time in three full seasons. If he had a more media-friendly personality, we’d be talking about one of the best coaches of all time, yet he’s still treated as a little curious.

Ol ‘Man Zizou: He doesn’t say anything, but he must know something, because he keeps winning trophies.

Kick off 8 pm BST, 9 pm CEST.