Perhaps more misery for Valencia. Coquelin goes down clutching his right hamstring. The ex-Arsenal man gets back to his feet, but isn’t moving freely.
89'
Lee Kang-In goes off after a red card!
RED CARD! It goes from bad to worse for Valencia as Lee, who only came on in the 76th minute, receives his marching orders for taking several swipes at Ramos.
86'
K. Benzema has scored a goal for Real Madrid! Assist by Marco Asensio.
It's also quite the cameo from Asensio, who has added an assist to the goal he scored immediately after coming on.
WHAT A GOAL! That is sensational from Benzema, who has put this game beyond all doubt with a quite incredible goal. Asensio lofted a pass into the Frenchman, who expertly controlled the ball with his right foot, lifting it over Guillamon, before – on the volley – hammering it home into the top-left corner with his left. Sublime. It’s 3-0 to Madrid.
84'
Hugo Guillamón gets yellow.
A yellow card for Guillamon, who intentionally handled to prevent Vinicius driving through.
82'
Vinícius Júnior enters the game and replaces E. Hazard.
Another Madrid change. Vinicius Jr is on in place of Hazard.
79'
After impressing in the first half, Valencia have offered little going forward since the restart, with Madrid having had complete control of the second half, and Zidane's side are well worthy of the three points.
76'
Lee Kang-In enters the game and replaces Rodrigo.
A fifth Valencia change has seen Rodrigo – who had that goal disallowed by VAR in the first half – make way for Lee.
74'
Marco Asensio enters the game and replaces F. Valverde.
Marco Asensio has scored a goal for Real Madrid! Assist by F. Mendy.
A first change for Madrid. On comes Asensio for his first appearance of the season, with the winger having recovered from a long-term knee injury. He has replaced Valverde.
GOOOOOAAALLL!!! What a moment that is for Asensio. Less than a minute after making his long-awaited comeback, the Spain international is on hand to drill home Mendy’s cross with his first touch. A dream return for Asensio, and it’s now 2-0 to Madrid.
Mendy didn't give up on a loose ball following a corner and, after skipping past his marker, the ex-Lyon full-back had plenty of time to supply an excellent cross from which Asensio made no mistake.
72'
Fantastic work from Mangala, who sprints back to prevent Hazard racing through on goal, doing brilliantly to dispossess the Belgium star without committing a foul.
Minute
Description
69'
D. Cheryshev enters the game and replaces Carlos Soler.
F. Coquelin enters the game and replaces Dani Parejo.
Another two changes for Valencia. First, Cheryshev replaces Soler.
Parejo has been unable to get involved much today, and has now made way for Coquelin.
68'
There are some hopeful appeals for a Madrid penalty after Ramos is bundled into by Mangala from a corner, but there is nothing doing for the referee.
61'
K. Benzema has scored a goal for Real Madrid! Assist by E. Hazard.
GOOOAAALLLL!! MADRID TAKE THE LEAD! It’s that man Benzema who has got it, calmly slotting beyond Cillessen after latching onto a quick pass from Hazard. Los Blancos 1-0 Valencia.
It was a brilliant finish from Benzema, but credit has to go to Hazard for a clever assist. He played an excellent one-two with Modric before laying it up for his strike partner.
60'
K. Gameiro enters the game and replaces M. Gómez.
A double change from Valencia. Gomez is off, with Gameiro coming on.
59'
Gonçalo Guedes enters the game and replaces Ferran Torres.
Torres has also made way, with Guedes coming on.
57'
Some sustained pressure from Madrid now, with Valencia having hardly managed to escape from their own half since the restart.
52'
CLOSE! Hazard is fed by Valverde down the right and slides an inviting cross into the six-yard box, but Benzema is caught flat-footed and the chance goes begging.
50'
That’s a nasty blow for Torres, who slumped forward into Ramos’ shoulder. There did not look to be much intent from Madrid’s captain, though he didn’t exactly attempt to get out of the way, either.
48'
No changes from either side at the interval, and it is Madrid who have started brightly. Modric attempts to pick out Benzema with a floated throughball, but Mangala is well place to intervene.
46'
Madrid get the second half up and running.
45' +5
HALF-TIME: REAL MADRID 0-0 VALENCIA.
45' +3
Another effort from Hazard, who is popping up in dangerous areas on the edge of Valencia’s box. His shot is a low one destined for the bottom-left corner, but Cillessen got down to it.
45'
Soler makes a vital block from a cross, handing Madrid a corner which Kroos delivers. Casemiro rises highest to meet it, but his header is straight at Cillessen.
40'
Benzema has been playing predominantly from the left flank, and once again he plays the role of winger as he drives to the byline and chips a cross into the six-yard box, but Gaya is there to clear it.
38'
Madrid have enjoyed well over 60 per cent of the possession so far, though it has far from been a one-sided encounter, with Valencia giving it as good as they have got.
33'
There will now be a break for drinks.
32'
After withstanding that period of Valencia pressure, Madrid are now back on the attack, with all of their outfield players pushing up into Valencia’s half. Carvajal drops a wonderful cross in towards Benzema, but a defender just manages to get there first.
26'
After spending much of the opening stages on the back front, Valencia are now pushing plenty of men forward and putting Madrid under some real pressure.
24'
José Gayà gets yellow.
Gaya has received a booking for remonstrating with the referee.
16'
Another attempt from Hazard, this time from range. The former Chelsea star gets plenty of power and dip on his shot, but Cillessen is equal to it.
6'
Parejo delivers an inviting cross to the back post, but Courtois had made the decision to rush off his line and the Belgian gets a decent fist to it.
5'
It has been a game of attack versus defence in the opening five minutes, with Valencia all but camped on the edge of their own box. A slack pass from a Madrid player finally allows the visitors to counter, however, with Torres winning a free-kick in a dangerous position down the right.
3'
Madrid quickly settle into their stride, with Kroos, Benzema and Casemiro all involved in a patiently worked move down the left. Hazard eventually switches the play, giving Benzema room to work his way into the area, and he soon gets off the first effort of the game, which is blocked.
1'
KICK-OFF! Valencia, wearing an all-blue away strip, get proceedings up and running.
Hello and welcome to LIVE coverage of LaLiga, as Real Madrid take on Valencia.
Second-place Madrid resumed their campaign with a 3-1 win over Eibar last time out, while Valencia – who are still not out of the running for a Champions League place – drew 1-1 with Levante.
A win for Madrid today could be vital to they title chances, as it would take them back to within two points of Barcelona, who defeated Leganes 2-0 on Tuesday. Valencia, meanwhile, would close down on the Champions League places should they upset Los Blancos today.
REAL MADRID SUBSTITUTES: Alphonse Areola, Eder Militao, Gareth Bale, Marcelo, James Rodriguez, Brahim Diaz, Diego Altube, Vinicius Junior, Marco Asensio, Javi Hernandez, Rodrygo.
REAL MADRID (4-3-3): Thibaut Courtois; Dani Carvajal, Sergio Ramos, Raphael Varane, Florian Mendy; Luka Modric, Casemiro, Toni Kroos; Federico Valverde, Karim Benzema, Eden Hazard.
VALENCIA SUBSTITUTES: Thierry Correia, Goncalo Guedes, Manu Vallejo, Ruben Sobrino, Francis Coquelin, Alessandro Florenzi, Denis Cheryshev, Mouctar Diakhaby, Jaume Domenech, Juame Costa, Kee Kang-In, Kevin Gameiro.
VALENCIA (4-4-2): Jasper Cillessen; Daniel Wass, Hugo Guillamon, Eliaquim Mangala, Jose Gaya; Feran Torres, Daniel Parejo, Geoffrey Kondogbia, Carlos Soler; Rodrigo Moreno, Maxi Gomez.
The teams are out at Madrid’s training stadium, which is hosting this match so work on Santiago Bernabeu can go ahead as planned. Kick-off is moments away.
Zidane has plenty of attacking talent in reserve, including James, Vinicius, Rodrygo and Bale, should he need to add more impetus to Los Blancos’ play, while Valencia’s coach will be pleased with his side’s display so far, with the visitors unlucky not to be ahead.
Valencia, meanwhile, remain in eighth, but have missed a chance to add more pressure to the teams above them, especially with Real Sociedad having slipped up earlier.
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