Hello and welcome to
Sports Mole's live coverage of the La Liga showdown between
Atletico Madrid and
Real Madrid. The home side are looking to move five points clear in second place, but Real can move ahead of their city rivals with a win. Let's take a look at the two starting lineups...
ATLETICO MADRID XI: Oblak; Arias, Gimenez, Godin, Hernandez; Correa, Saul, Partey; Lemar, Morata, Griezmann
REAL MADRID XI: Courtois; Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Reguilon; Modric, Casemiro, Kroos; Vazquez, Benzema, Vinicius Junior
We are underway in Spain!
SHOT! Griezmann gets an early shot away for Atletico having collected the ball inside the area, but the Frenchman was always going to struggle for accuracy on the turn.
Real attempt to hit straight back through Benzema, but the forward is dispossessed by a defender. Lively start to this one.
Young left-back Reguilon has picked up a knock and has needed to receive some treatment, but he is fine to continue. This is probably the biggest match of his career thus far.
SHOT! Atletico go on the offensive through Partey, but the midfielder's shot is always going over the crossbar. A section of Atletico's supporters are throwing what appear to be rats (toy ones) at former goalkeeper Courtois...
Real again provide an immediate response as Carvajal gets down the right-hand side before crossing for Modric, but the midfielder's header goes across goal and wide of the far post.
It doesn't appear that the crowd are going to let Courtois forget about his previous stay at Atletico. The goalkeeper is being jeered each time that he receives the ball.
Real win the first corner of the match, but Morata is able to clear the ball at the near post. It was a very poor delivery.
GOAL! Atletico Madrid 0-1 Real Madrid (Casemiro)
© Reuters
Real take the lead and in some style too! Another corner is delivered into the penalty area and after Ramos wins the first header, the ball drops to Casemiro who sends an overhead kick past Oblak from around eight yards out.
That's a big goal for Real. They showed on Wednesday night against Barcelona that they are not overawed by going to one of their biggest rivals, and the same has happened again. Atletico won't panic just yet, however.
CHANCE! Real are already going in search of a second. Vinicius Junior does well down the left before looking to find Vazquez at the back post, but the attacker cannot keep his effort down.
YELLOW CARD! It has been a frustrating couple of minutes for Vazquez. The Real winger has now gone into the referee's book for a late challenge.
YELLOW CARD! Griezmann follows Vazquez into the book for hacking down Casemiro after being dispossessed by the Brazilian.
GOAL! Atletico Madrid 1-1 Real Madrid (Antoine Griezmann)
© Reuters
Atletico are back on level terms. Griezmann latched onto a pass from Correa before converting the ball past Courtois and into the net, but the flag went up and we went to VAR. The French attacker was onside and a tussle between Correa and Vinicius Junior is deemed to be fair, so the goal stands!
There was a lengthy delay - which generally seems to be the case with VAR - but we reached the correct decision in the end. Atletico deserve their equaliser. This has been a hard-fought contest.
Vinicius Junior has got himself into the game over the past 10 minutes and the youngster fancies his chances against Godin. However, the centre-back uses his experience to hold off the attention of his fellow South American.
SHOT! Atletico go up the other end and win a corner, but Griezmann can only head over the crossbar at the back post.
The reverse fixture at the Bernabeu ended goalless, but this is a completely different game with the stakes perhaps bigger than they were in September. Real are improving under Solari.
SHOT! The visitors get their first shot away since being pegged back, and Kroos's strike is a decent one. However, Oblak is equal to the German's first-time effort.
PENALTY! Real have been awarded a penalty! Gimenez mistimes a challenge on Vinicius Junior on the edge of the area, and it is an easy decision for the referee.
GOAL! Atletico Madrid 1-2 Real Madrid (Sergio Ramos)
Ramos takes responsibility for the spot kick, and the defender drills his effort into the left corner. Oblak had no chance. Real are back in front as we approach the break.
Atletico want a penalty of their own at the other end when Correa goes down under the attention of Reguilon, but the referee isn't interested and rightly so.
There will be two minutes of added-on time.
HALF TIME: Atletico Madrid 1-2 Real Madrid
The half-time whistle goes in Madrid and Real hold a 2-1 advantage over their city rivals. Griezmann's goal - assisted by VAR - cancelled out Casemiro's overhead kick, but Ramos's penalty has given the visitors the lead. They probably deserve it, too.
As is stands, Real are moving into second position in the table. Who would have thought that a couple of months ago? Both teams will be hoping that Barcelona fail to defeat Athletic Bilbao tomorrow evening, a game which you can catch with Sports Mole.
The two teams are making their back out in Spain. I wouldn't expect any changes at this stage.
KICKOFF: We are back underway.
SHOT! Morata has not enjoyed the greatest of games for Atletico, and it does not get any better with the Chelsea loanee firing a shot high and wide of the target. It will be interesting to see how long Simeone decides to persist with the former Real man.
It is Real's turn to go up the other end of the pitch and Vinicius Junior earns a corner for the visitors. The set piece comes to nothing, but Solari will be pleased that his players are not trying to defend their narrow advantage at this stage.
SHOT! Much better form Morata who advances past a defender before teeing up Griezmann, but the World Cup winner cannot find the target from 20 yards out.
DISALLOWED GOAL! You have to feel sorry for Morata here. The January arrival controls the ball superbly before lobbing Courtois and looks delighted having gotten himself on the scoresheet. However, VAR is involved yet again and the goal is chalked off for offside!
SUBSTITUTION! A further delay followed that goal and now we are going to see a change from Real, who were in no rush to get Bale onto the pitch. The Welshman has replaced Vinicius Junior.
YELLOW CARD! Lucas Hernandez is the next man to enter the book for a cynical foul on Carvajal.
SUBSTITUTION! Atletico react to Real's alteration by introducing Vitolo for Lemar.
CHANCE! I don't think that Courtois is going to warm himself to the Atletico fans at any point soon. Gimenez must think that he is about to equalise with a volley from close range, but the goalkeeper somehow managed to keep the ball out.
YELLOW CARD! The cautions are totting up. Partey is booked for a late challenge on Reguilon.
YELLOW CARD! Unsurprisingly, Reguilon is beginning to get a bit frustrated with the treatment dished out to him today. He now goes into the book for a foul on Griezmann. This one is threatening to boil over.
SUBSTITUTION! A second switch for Atletico sees Rodri introduced for Correa.
It has been stop-start over the past 10 minutes and that continues as Morata goes down looking for a penalty under pressure from Ramos. VAR is required but nothing is given. Morata isn't happy...
YELLOW CARD! Morata has now gotten himself booked for pushing the Real defender, who had not been happy with his compatriot's effort to win a spot kick.
SUBSTITUTION! And that is the last of Morata for this afternoon. Kalinic has been brought on in his place. We are well into the final quarter, but chances are beginning to dry up.
YELLOW CARD! Another booking, this time for Saul who has fouled the targeted Reguilon. We are up to nine for the afternoon.
SHOT! Benzema has barely featured in the final third this afternoon, but the Frenchman finally gets involved by heading over a Vazquez cross.
GOAL! Atletico Madrid 1-3 Real Madrid (Gareth Bale)
© Reuters
Game over, surely. Modric is the creator with a through-ball finding the run of Bale, and the substitute shows no nerves in finding the bottom corner.
SHOT! Atletico won't stop going in search for goals but Rodri is unable to score on this occasion, with the replacement heading Griezmann's cross over the bar.
RED CARD! It goes from bad to worse for Atletico. Partey has been given his second yellow card and the home side are down to 10 men.
Kroos was the victim of that tackle and has needed to receive some treatment. It looks a genuine injury, too. Atletico's fans are starting to make their way to the exits.
SUBSTITUTION! Solari reacts by withdrawing the German. Ceballos has been introduced in his place.
The game is starting to peter out now. Atletico recognise that the match is over as a contest, and Real are more than happy to go through the motions.
CHANCE! Bale scored his 100th goal for Real earlier in the game and he almost finds his 101st. Benzema provides a cross for his teammate, but the substitute heads over from close range.
SUBSTITUTION! Real's final change sees Mariano come on for Benzema.
There will be three minutes of added-on time.
This win will do Solari the world of good given that he needs to put himself in contention to be given the managerial role on a permanent basis. This team are playing for him and they will be a threat for the rest of the season.
FULL TIME: Atletico Madrid 1-3 Real Madrid
The full-time whistle goes in Madrid and Real have earned a 3-1 win over Atletico. Solari's side had to dig deep to come through a rocky period after half time, but goals from Casemiro, Ramos and Bale have taken the team ahead of their hosts and into second place.
That will be all from
Sports Mole for this match. Thank you for joining us this afternoon and we hope to see you again soon.
If you would like to read our on-the-whistle match report, you can do so by clicking here. Goodbye for now.