Somehow, Rafa Benitez’s men are winners after a relatively punchless showing. That’s all for now. Do check back later for a full match report and thanks as always for following along with us.
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Full-time: Real Madrid 1-0 PSG
There’s the final whistle and Real Madrid have assured themselves a spot in the last 16 of the Champions League with today’s 1-0 win over PSG. And how lucky they were to have gotten the result after spending what seemed like the entire match weathering PSG’s best punches. Never mind. Three points is three points and it on to the next for the La Liga leaders.
90 min+3: Shot by David Luiz is deflected off Casemiro.
90 min+2: Navas issued a yellow card, ostensibly for delay of game.
90 min: Into the 90th and the visitors are pressing hard for an equalizer. Fourth official signals for three minutes of stoppage time.
88 min: Casemiro shown yellow for a foul on Lucas and Di Maria will have a free-kick attempt from a dangerous spot just outside the area ... but it curls just over the wall and into the crossbar, where it caroms out. Unlucky.
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86 min: PSG continuing to press as full time draws near, but they’re dispossessed and now it’s Lucas attacking up the right side for Madrid.
82 min: Kovacic on for Isco as Rafa Benitez makes his final switch.
81 min: Real Madrid, though on the back heel, still haven’t given up trying to double their advantage. Right now it’s Kroos, whose attempt is turned away.
78 min: PSG win a corner, but Di Maria’s effort is turned away before landing back at the Argentine’s foot. More pressure from the visitors here, but still nothing to show for it.
76 min: A long ball is played forward to Zlatan, but he’s offside by a meter or more.
75 min: Another sub for PSG as Lucas comes on for Matuidi.
73 min: Casemiro fouls Di Maria, giving PSG a free-kick opportunity. It’s quickly restarted as PSG patiently looks to build up again, but they’re dispossessed and Madrid string together six passes for a quick counter. Final pass lands at Isco’s feet, whose shot from close range is turned away by Trapp. Corner to Madrid.
71 min: Another attack up the left side by PSG, but every affront is turned away at the final hurdle by Madrid’s stout back four. Can they hold on for another 20 minutes?
69 min: Well worked by PSG up the left flank, but ultimately it’s Cavani who is ruled offside and Real Madrid will take over possession deep in their own half of the pitch.
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68 min: Sergio Ramos with an attempt on goal for the hosts, easily met by Trapp.
67 min: David Luiz shown yellow for a foul on Isco. The Brazilian will consequently miss the next match.
64 min: Free kick to Real Madrid taken by Isco, whose attempt on goal is easily corralled by Trapp.
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60 min: An hour down and PSG continue to look the sharper, more threatening side. Yet they’ve nothing to show for it so far and will need to figure out a way to crack Madrid’s back four over the next 30 minutes.
57 min: Kroos to take the corner for Madrid and it’s cleared well into Real Madrid’s half.
56 min: Isco’s attempt on goal is deflected out off David Luiz and Real Madrid will have a corner.
53 min: Another shot by Ibrahimovic misses the mark. Have just heard word that Malmo have fallen behind 2-0 to Shakhtar Donetsk. Should Real Madrid hold on, they’ll be assured a spot in the last 16.
49 min: Ronaldo, mostly contained today by the well organized PSG defense, has a shot on goal but it does little to trouble Trapp.
48 min: Clattering challenge by Casemiro on Thiago Motta gives PSG a free kick and Di Maria has a shot on goal almost immediately after. The Argentine has been excellent today on his first return to the Bernabéu.
46 min: And we’re off and running in the second half.
A quick look at the half-time stats, which confirm PSG are unlucky to be trailing.
Real Madrid v PSG
5 Shots 8
4 On target 2
43% Possession 57%
226 Completed passes 305
2 Corners 1
11 Tackles 9
Half-time: Real Madrid 1-0 PSG
Clattenburg whistles for half-time and Real Madrid are lucky to be ahead after weathering PSG’s best shots early. But they’ll likely need to raise their game if they hope to hold on for the three points.
45 min+4: Quick counter by PSG and an exquisite pass by Di Maria finds Cavani all alone with a breakaway on goal. Credit to Navas, who’s off his line quick and breaks it up.
45 min+3: Isco has a go for goal but it’s repelled by Trapp out and it’s a corner to Real Madrid, but easily cleared.
45 min: Aurier shown yellow for a foul on Ronaldo. Four minutes of stoppage time to come.
43 min: Corner to PSG, taken by Di Maria. It’s played into the area where it falls to Ibrahimovic, but before he can turn for a shot the whistle blows and the flag goes up for offside.
40 min: Another great chance for PSG, who have redoubled their offensive efforts in the wake of that strange goal. Here it’s Rabiot again, who just misses the mark.
37 min: And just like that Rabiot nearly equalizes, finding the woodwork with a first-time effort from 20 yards.
GOAL! Real Madrid 1-0 PSG (Nacho, 35 min)
The hosts strike first against the run of play as a Kroos shot is deflected by a defender’s leg, pushing Trapp off his line and way out of position as it falls to Nacho, who boots it softly into the back of the goal. An unlikely goalscorer to put Real Madrid ahead 10 minutes from half-time.
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32 min: Rafa Benitez makes his first move of the day as Nacho comes on for Marcelo.
31 min: A half hour down and PSG have been excellent in the early stages even if they have nothing yet to show for it.
30 min: PSG threatening again, finding surprising holes in the Madrid defense as they charge down the pitch, but ultimately it’s Aurier whose cross from near the touch line is intercepted.
29 min: Ibrahimovic to take it and his well struck attempt very nearly curls into the bottom right corner but just misses the mark.
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28 min: Another chance for PSG looms as the visitors win a free kick from outside the area on a Casemiro foul.
25 min: Rabiot hacks down Casemiro and now Madrid will have a free kick from a dangerous area, roughly 25 yards from goal in the center of the pitch. Ronaldo to take it, but it’s deflected by the wall and sails high into the waiting hands of Trapp.
24 min: Another shot for PSG, this one a left-footed effort by Di Maria from just outside the area, that skids wide right of the post and just past the outstretched arms of Navas. The visitors are really finding their stride now and have Madrid on the back heel.
23 min: Zlatan steadies himself inside the area and has a go at the far post, but the shot curls just out.
21 min: A free kick is awarded to PSG after Kroos fouls David Luiz. Matuidi uncorks a shot on goal but it’s easily saved by Navas.
17 min: Adrien Rabiot comes on for Verratti, PSG’s first sub of the match. On the bright side Isco, who looked like he might be coming out also, is back on the pitch.
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16 min: Isco is sitting is the dugout and will likely be replaced shortly. Meanwhile the ball goes to Ibrahimovic, who careens towards the net before missing the target.
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13 min: Another stoppage as the Italian midfielder Marco Verratti is now down and being examined by the medical staff.
10 min: Kroos takes the corner but it’s cleared harmlessly. Then comes a nasty clash of heads between Aurier and Isco, who is bleeding. Action comes to a half as Isco comes off to get that gash treated.
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8 min: A dozen or so uninterrupted passes by a probing PSG before they’re dispossessed and Real Madrid move quickly to counter. Jese’s cross is met at the near post by Trapp, but the referee rules it out and a corner is given to the hosts.
6 min: A fast start by both sides even if there haven’t been many concrete chances to show for it. Lots of up and down action to match the electric Bernabéu atmosphere.
5 min: Isco elbowed to the ground while jockeying for a 50-50 ball with Maxwell, who’s called for a foul. Marcelo’s free kick leads to nothing.
4 min: A shot on goal by Ronaldo but not much on it and an easy save for Trapp.
3 mins: Kroos will have a free kick from their half of the pitch after a foul by Thiago Motta, but they’re quickly dispossessed and PSG has a half-chance when Ibrahimovic dribbles into the area – but can’t get a shot off.
2 min: PSG’s Aurier is whistled by English referee Mark Clattenburg for a foul on Marcelo.
1 min: And we’re off! PSG attacking from right to left in black kits with pink numbering, Real Madrid from left to right in classic all-white strips. The visitors have possession first and look to work it up patiently from the back.
The players are emerging from the tunnel. A win for either side in today’s match would clinch a place in the knockout stage should Malmo lose at Shakhtar Donetsk.
Here’s a look at today’s teams. Sergio Ramos, in and out of the team for the last seven weeks while battling a shoulder ailment, is due to start. As is Luka Modric, who was taken of at half-time of Madrid’s 3-1 win over Las Palmas in La Liga with a sore hip. Gareth Bale (calf) is out.
PSG
XI: Trapp, Aurier, Silva, Luiz, Maxwell, Verratti, Motta, Matuidi, Di María, Cavani, Ibrahimović
Subs: Sirigu, Van der Wiel, Kurzawa, Stambouli, Rabiot, Lucas, Lavezzi
Real Madrid
XI: Navas, Danilo, Ramos, Varane, Marcelo, Kroos, Modric, Casemiro, Isco, Ronaldo, Jesé
Subs: Casilla, Pepe, Nacho, Kovacic, Cherichev, James, Lucas Vazquez
Hello and welcome to today’s Champions League group-stage meeting between Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain. It’s the second clash in two weeks between the last two unbeaten teams in Europe’s major leagues after last month’s scoreless draw at the Parc des Princes, which was the first competitive match in more than two decades.
Bryan will be here shortly, in the meantime here are Sid Lowe’s latest thoughts on La Liga:
It was a truly terrible sight, and not just because of all that double denim. Víctor Rodríguez was sitting at the front of Getafe’s press room analysing the game his side had just lost to Barcelona when he heard the screaming beyond the wall. The door burst open and in they came: a zombie, Batman, King Kong, Shrek, Frankenstein*, and some monstrous mate. The zombie stumbled into the middle, peered out from behind his mask and muttered “Shit, we’ve got this wrong”, so they turned to escape only to be ushered out the back door instead, bumbling past the cameras and the cables lying everywhere. Who was that, someone asked. “Who do you think it was, my mother and father?” Getafe’s press officer replied. “It was the Barcelona players.”
They had come dressed for Halloween, some in masks worn with the club’s usual casual combo, others in full costume, hair and make-up. Sandro came as a ghost and Dani Alves was dressed as a prisoner, either that or he was modelling next year’s kit. Adriano and Neymar came as Dracula – and this time you can insert the punchline yourself – while one came as a ghost and another as Shrek – this time too – and, as for the zombie leading them, that was Gerard Piqué. For one brief moment there was even real panic, when they bundled outside and realised they were lost, Jordi Alba contemplating a bid for safety over a metal barrier, but they soon boarded the bus for home.
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