Real Madrid v Eibar: La Liga – live!

54 min After a slow start, Hazard looks like he is enjoying himself. He has been more relaxed since setting up the second goal for Sergio Ramos.

51 min “Hi Rob,” says Alberto Tobias. “The x in EIbar’s crest is a cross of Saint Andrew. It features on the flag of the city of Eibar, since St. Andrew is their patron saint. The more you know… PS: curious as to what you think of the CGI crowd and crowd noise.”

Despite myself, I like it. I still worry about somebody pressing the wrong button and accidentally causing an international incident, but so far I think it has worked really well. So well, in fact, that I’d forgotten all about it until your email. How about you?

49 min A chance for Eibar. Courtois’s poor kick goes straight to de Blasis on the edge of the area. He pushes it inside to Exposito, whose curling shot is pushed away by the diving Courtois. Decent save.

46 min Peep peep! Eibar begin the second half. Real Madrid have made a change, with Ferland Mendy on for Dani Carvajal at right-back.

Peep peep! Dmitrovic makes a sprawling save from Rodrygo, and that’s the last touch of the half. Real Madrid are cruising to victory on their return to association football action. The three goals, scored by Kroos, Ramos and Marcelo, were all excellent, and there could a few more in the second half.

40 min Real’s next game is a peedie bit tasty: Valencia at home on Thursday. Barcelona host Leganes on Tuesday.

Goodnight. Marcelo has made it 3-0 with a cracking finish. Hazard’s shot was beaten away by Dmitrovic, but Eibar couldn’t clear properly and the ball ran towards Marcelo on the edge of the area. He charged onto it and smashed a fine shot into the bottom corner.

34 min Exposito’s long-range shot is comfortably held by Courtois.

A superb counter-attack from Real, started and finished by Sergio Ramos. He won the ball deep in his own half, gave it to Benzema on the left and kept running. Benzema moved infield and played a devastating angled pass to put Hazard through on goal. He could have scored himself but tapped the ball square for Ramos to hammer it gleefully into the open net.

30 min Orellana’s snapshot from 20 yards is blocked by Varane.

29 min Hazard and Rodrygo have swapped wings in an attempt to make something happen.

28 min Real’s passing has been a bit sharper in the last few minutes, with Modric particularly influential.

25 min Hazard hasn’t been great so far. He looks like he’s trying too hard to impress, which is understandable in the circumstances.

24 min Rafa is fortunate not to be booked for pulling back Rodrygo.

23 min Eibar are having an even share of this game, and the next goal feels like a big one. If Real get it, they will probably win 48-0. But if Eibar equalise, all bets are off.

21 min The teenager Rodrygo has his first run down the right, beating Rafa before being dispossessed by Exposito.

17 min Modric overhits an attempted through ball to Hazard. Real look a bit rusty in attack, as you’d expect.

15 min A half chance for Eibar. De Blasis forces the ball back from the byline towards Kike, who shoots over under pressure from Carvajal. Kike thought he was fouled, and he might have a point, but there’s no VAR intervention.

12 min Cristoforo’s long-range shot is saved comfortably by Courtois.

10 min Eibar have responded well to going behind, with a couple of promising attacks. They are quite aggressive without the ball, too.

7 min Kike falls over in the area after a tackle from Casemiro. He took the ball cleanly, so there’s nothing to see here.

VAR watch Benzema looked offside in the build-up, so this may be disallowed.

That didn’t take long. Toni Kroos has given Real the lead with a spectacular goal! Benzema tried to wriggle into the area from the left and was tackled. The ball ran loose towards Kroos on the edge of the box, and he opened his body to sidefoot a nonchalant shot that flew over Dmitrovic and into the far corner.

3 min A slow start to the game, with lots of Real possession in deep positions.

2 min “Hi Rob,” says Peter Oh. “Cool little spare stadium Real Madrid have got there! Zidane was coach of the B team before stepping into the top job, so this is a sort of homecoming for him, isn’t it? Eibar’s crest is interesting. I wonder what the story behind the red x is. I like the stylistic simplicity of it, but it doesn’t exactly exude confidence in penalty shootout situations, does it?”

1 min Peep peep! Real, in white, kick off from left to right. Eibar are wearing red and blue stripes.

Real Madrid (4-3-3) Courtois; Carvajal, Varane, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo; Modric, Casemiro, Kroos; Rodrygo, Benzema, Hazard.
Substitutes: Eder Militao, Brahim Diaz, Isco, Bale, James, Javier Hernandez, Vinicius Jr., Areola, Valverde, Mendy, Diego Suarez, Asensio.

Eibar (4-3-3) Dmitrovic; Correa, P Oliveira, Arbilla, Rafa Soares; Cristoforo, S Alvarez, Exposito; Orellana, Kike, De Blasis.
Substitutes: Yoel, Diop, Pedro Leon, Burgos, Jose Angel, Bigas, Quique Glez, Tejero, Sergio Cubero, Charles, Enrich, Inui.

Hello and welcome to live coverage of Real Madrid v Eibar from Not The Bernabeu. The home of the white handkerchief is being renovated, so Real will play at the cosy Alfredo Di Stefano Stadium – usually reserved for Real Madrid Castilla – for the rest of the season.

This is Real’s first game since the extended spring break, but they can’t afford to ease their way back into action. They lost the last match before the break, a surprise 2-1 defeat at Betis. And With Barcelona five points clear after defiling Mallorca 4-0 last night, it’s pretty much a must-win game.

Real will expect to beat Eibar, who are only two points and two places above the relegation zone, and it’s a good chance for the new, slimline Eden Hazard to impress the watching world. Hazard has been in spectacular form in training, it says here, and will be out to show that he, not Tim Burgess or Alan Titchmarsh, has been lockdown’s biggest winner.

Kick off is at 6.30pm BST, 7.30pm CEST.