Real Madrid v Villarreal: La Liga – live!

80 min Vinicius moves into the area and hits a shot that is well blocked by Chakla.

79 min “Come on Matt Dony!” says Simon Frank. “Whilst I’ll admit that Barcelona have disappeared up their own backsides of late, there simply isn’t a club side in any sport that is smugger than Real Madrid – a club, lest we forget, that in their centenary year a decade or so ago insisted to Fifa that no club side anywhere in the world be allowed to play a fixture on their 100th birthday.”

Benzema drags an excellent penalty into the bottom-left corner. That was all very strange – and Villarreal are still arguing that it shouldn’t have been retaken – but the upshot is that Real Madrid are champions of Spain for the 34th time!

PENALTY FARCE! Oh this is too good. Ramos rolled his studs over the ball at the penalty, allowing Benzema to run on and score. But Benzema encroached, so it will be taken again, this time by Benzema.

73 min Ramos nicks the ball on the halfway line, lumbers all the way to the penalty area and falls over under Chakla’s challenge. I’m not sure that should be a penalty, but it is.

70 min “Hi Rob,” says David Correia, “I agree with Kari’s comments about Zidane. He made football look easy, so we shouldn’t be surprised he did the same for managing.”

Wait until he headbutts Pep Guardiola in the chest at the Etihad next month.

69 min Courtois continues. I don’t know enough about concussion or concussion protocols to pass judgement, but it’s a bit of a surprise because he took quite a whack from Quintilla.

68 min Courtois charges to the edge of the area to make a fine interception from Quintilla, who accidentally knees Courtois in the head in the process. There’s a break in play while Courtois is treated.

66 min I suppose a dullish 1-0 win, with a goal from Benzema, would be an appropriate way for Real to win the title. They have conceded only 22 goals in 36 and a half matches.

Our Lionel has equalised at the Camp Nou. A reminder that Barcelona need to win tonight or Real will win the title whatever happens in this game.

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

61 min Modric is booked for what looked a good tackle on Ontiveros. I thought Modric had been booked earlier, but it seems that yellow card went to Carvajal for dissent.

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

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

57 min “I’ve had a substantial soft-spot for Madrid since McManaman’s days there, and like most right-thinking football fans, I found the Galacticos era hilariously entertaining,” says Matt Dony. “And then, even though it’s all gone a bit sour, there was Bale. A quiet lad from Cardiff hoovering up European Cups. I also despise Barcelona, and the smug sanctimony that seems to accompany everything they do. Mes Que Un Club? No, thank you. Long story short, this has already been a pretty good season. Madrid bearing Barca to the title would be an unexpected bonus. Hala Madrid!”

56 min The good news for Barcelona is that they’ve finally had a shot on target against Osasuna. The bad news is they’re still losing 1-0.

55 min “Hello Rob,” says Kári Tulinius. “I think the difficulties Zidane has with being properly rated as a manager is that he makes top-level management look absurdly easy. He has the air of someone who just turns up five minutes before kickoff and tells his players to go out there and have fun. Of course the failures of genuinely good managers with the same group of players disproves that, but Zidane still has that air about him.”

That’s a very astute observation.

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

53 min Given the stakes, this has been a slightly bloodless match. I suppose that will change if Villarreal equalise and Madrid need to push for a winner.

49 min Villarreal have made a more positive start to the second half. Morlanes flips a dangerous pass over the Madrid defence that just runs away from Moreno.

Villarreal have made a double substitution at half-time: Bruno Soriano and Javier Ontiveros are on for Ruben Pena and Samuel Chukwueze.

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

44 min Modric plays a great pass out inside Quintilla for Rodrygo, who drives a low cross into the six-yard box that is booted away by Chakla at the far post.

41 min As things stand, Real are seven points clear of Barcelona with one game remaining.

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

37 min It’s still all Madrid. Villarreal have some good attacking options on the bench, so I guess they just want to get to half-time only 1-0 down.

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

I wouldn’t throw you out of an online chatroom for expression that opinion.

34 min It’s still Barcelona 0-1 Osasuna. Barcelona have had 77 per cent of the possession and no shots on target.

32 min “Hi Rob,” says Gerry Scott. “It will never happen of course but I think Barca need to sell Messi. Not only is he the only asset they have who will bring in enough money for a wider rebuilt, but any such rebuild is going to founder whilst he’s there.”

He’s 33 now, so do you think they would get that much for him? I know Real Madrid got a huge fee for a 33-year-old Ronaldo, but he’s clearly going to play at the top level until he’s 142.

A risky pass into midfield by Chakla was nicked by Casemiro and picked up by Modric, 40 yards from goal. Villarreal were suddenly exposed, and Modric moved into the space before playing a simple angled pass to put Benzema through on goal. He drove a first-time shot through the legs of Asenjo from 10 yards. That’s his 20th goal of the season.

The big man gives Real the lead!

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

26 min Real keep moving the ball left and right in pursuit of an opening. Nothing doing at the moment.

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

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

As Stephen Carr was saying… Barcelona are behind at home to Osasuna. If they don’t win tonight, Madrid will be champions regardless of what happens in this game.

18 min “Good evening Rob,” says Stephen Carr. “Real and Barca are both teams at the end of their respective cycles and need significant overhauls but the former seem better equipped to move forward – Barca are an absolute mess of a club at the moment.”

They surely are. Where do you even start with that rebuild?

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

16 min Modric whistles a shot from 25 yards that is palmed behind by the diving Asenjo. It was a fairly comfortable save.

15 min Casemiro clips an angled pass over the defence to Benzema, who hooks a volley wide of the far post. It was a difficult chance from a very tight angle, and replays suggest it was a cross rather than a shot.

12 min Casemiro runs onto a loose ball, 30 yards from goal, and bullets it into orbit.

10 min It’s all Real Madrid so far. Villarreal have parked the submarine, with two banks of four shuffling from side to side. (We thought their formation would be 5-4-1 but it’s actually 4-4-2.)

8 min It’s Barcelona 0-0 Osasuna, though Barca have had 88 per cent of the possession so far.

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

“Hi Rob,” says Mark Childs. “Can’t believe that in my head I just compared Zidane with Big Ron, but that was my first thought in response to your point about Zidane being underrated… Don’t you think some of the lack of respect for Zidane is because they’ve lacked ‘remorseless consistency’? I don’t watch them enough to know, but my sense is that Real have enough great players to win any game and a ‘great’ manager would have them win more games? Also, that when they win it is due to great individual performances of players rather than patterns of play from a great coach?”

I know what you mean, but what are Liverpool’s patterns of play? What were Manchester United’s in 1999? I’m not sure this Madrid squad is particularly good, either, which is why this season has been so impressive. I agree about Big Ron, mind.

What is going on Italy, I hear you ask.

Barcelona are also playing tonight, at home to Osasuna. If they fail to win, Real will be champions 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; Pena, 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 are the only team in world football who could turn their nose up at winning a domestic title. They have been defined by the European Cup for so long that La Liga often feels like an afterthought. But since lockdown it has been their world entire: they have won nine games in a row, displaying the kind of remorseless consistency of a Bayern Munich or a Liverpool. A tenth win tonight, at home to Villarreal, would clinch a 34th La Liga title.

It would also be only their third in the last 12 seasons. They’ve won the Champions League more often in that time, a confusing statgasm that reflects the unique identity of the club. The Champions League will be harder to win this year, given their 2-1 defeat at home to Manchester City in the first leg of their last-16 match, but a lot has changed since then and it would silly to rule them out. Especially with Zinedine Zidane in charge.

One of these days, Zidane is going to get the credit for he deserves for a unique coaching CV. He has had three attemps at the Champions League and won them all, and is on the cusp of winning La Liga for the second time in three full seasons. If he had a more, a-hem, media-friendly personality we’d be talking about one of the all-time great coaches, yet he is still treated like a bit of a curiosity.

Ol’ Man Zizou: he don’t say nuthin’ but he must know somethin’, ’cause he just keeps winning trophies.

Kick off 8pm BST, 9pm CEST.