Barcelona v Real Madrid: La Liga – live | La Liga

86 min |Madrid are having their best spell of the entire match. After a good break down the left by Rodrygo, Benzema and Tchaoumeni both have shots blocked in the space of a few seconds.

84 min: Barcelona substitution Ferran Torres on, Raphinha off.

NO GOAL! Barcelona 1-1 Real Madrid

VAR check We’re still waiting.

Vinicius played a good ball to release Rodrygo, who ran from the halfway line to the edge of the area before finding Carvajal. He slid a low cross into the middle, where Asensio opened his body to guide the ball past ter Stegen and into the corner. But he might be offside.

GOAL! Barcelona 1-2 Real Madrid (Asensio 81)

79 min Kounde allows Christensen square pass to evade him, 25 yards from goal, and Benzema is all over it. He moves to the edge of the area and curls a low shot that is too close to ter Stegen.

78 min Vinicius’s long-range shot is comfortably saved by ter Stegen.

77 min: Barcelona substitution Franck Kessie replaces the goalscorer Sergi Roberto.

76 min: Triple substitution for Madrid Dani Ceballos, Marco Asensio and Aurelio Tchouameni replace Modric, Valverde and Camavinga.

76 min Barcelona work the ball patiently on the edge of the Madrid area. Eventually De Jong slides a straight pass down the inside-left channel to Lewandowski, who drags a first-time shot into the side netting. Courtois had it covered, and I think he was offside anyway.

74 min The lively Raphinha plays a quick one-two with Sergi Roberto and rattles the bouncing ball towards goal from the edge of the area. It takes a big deflection off Rudiger and Courtois dives to his left to make a good save.

74 min This hasn’t been a great game, in truth. Real have been disappointing, Benzema in particular.

70 min A decent Madrid break ends with Vinicius wafting high and wide from the edge of the area.

69 min Modric is booked for a cynical foul on Gavi.

67 min Busquets’ clipped cross is volleyed over acrobatically by Lewandowski, six yards out at the far post. That was a really chance – he might even have had time to control the ball first.

66 min It looks like Madrid have switched to a box midfield, with Rodrygo and Modric closest to Benzema. Vinicius is still on the left and there’s no right winger, just the full back Carvajal.

65 min Sergi Roberto is booked for a cynical foul on Modric.

63 min: Chance for Madrid! Rodrygo almost scores straight away, thrashing high and wide from the edge of the area after Carvajal pounced on a loose pass from Busquets and foced the ball through to him.

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62 min: Double substitution for Madrid Ferland Mendy and Rodrygo replace Nacho and Toni Kroos. That means Valverde will move back into midfield.

59 min Lewandowski spins Rudiger expertly on the edge of the D and hits a left-footed shot that deflects just wide of the right-hand post. The resulting corner is taken quickly to De Jong, who sprays over from a tight angle on the right side of the area.

59 min “Real may have won the odd European Cup, Rob, but are they even that good?” says Simon McMahon. “I mean, beating Barca in the Nou Camp ain’t all that difficult.”

Regular readers will know which team Simon McMahon supports.

57 min Carvajal goes down holding his mouth after a challenge with Gavi. Replays show that he did eat Gavi’s elbow, in fairness, though I don’t think it was deliberate and the referee doesn’t think much of it.

54 min Modric cuts inside from the left and curls a long-range shot that is blocked by Kounde.

53 min Vinicius plays a one-two with Modric and slides a cross towards Benzema that is cut out by Christensen at the near post. Vinicius ha been Madrid’s main/only threat.

51 min Sergi Roberto’s angled through pass towards Raphinha is crucially intercepted by the last man Nacho, who pokes the ball behind for a corner. Nothing comes of it.

49 min A reminder that a draw isn’t much use to Madrid: it would leave them nine points behind Barcelona with 12 games remaining.

47 min Vinicius scorches past Araujo on the left, gets to the byline and pokes the ball back to Valverde, who slices wide from 12 yards. The bounce made it an awkward chance for Valverde, though I’m not sure it would have counted anyway – I think the ball had just gone out of play before Vinicius crossed it.

46 min Peep peep!

“Barça didn’t get off to a good start,” says Peter Oh. “I mean, just look at the expression on Robert Lewandowski’s face in the lineup photo that the club posted on Twitter. That expression looks about as genuine as a replica kit in a souvenir shop.

“As a Barcelona fan, I sure hope he will do something in this match that will put a real smile on his face.”

Imagine the puss on Roy Keane if he’d been asked to pose like this for a game against Arsenal.

“Some dazzling skills, plenty of tension on the verge of boiling over into something spectacular and a bit of sh..housery,” says Colum Fordham. “All you could want from the first half of el clasico. And a stunning finish from Sergi Roberto, almost outLewandowskiing his esteemed colleague.”

Half time: Barcelona 1-1 Real Madrid

It was such a cool, precise finish that I thought it was Robert Lewandowski. Raphinha had two chances, missing his kick and then having a shot blocked. But the ball rebounded to Sergi Roberto, who took a touch and calmly sidefooted the ball past the diving Courtois from 12 yards.

GOAL! Barcelona 1-1 Real Madrid (Sergi Roberto 45)