Real Madrid vs Espanyol summary: score, goals, highlights, LaLiga

Madrid record much-needed win

It's all over at the Bernabéu. Espanyol gave the home side an early fright with Joselu's goal but Los Blancos fought back to win 3-1.

Real Madrid have run out 3-1 winners at the Bernabéu.

And there's the full-time whistle!

VALVERDE!

That's a fine stop from Pacheco to keep it at 3-1.

Nacho goes on a surging run from full-back, before picking out Asensio, who finishes exquisitely to wrap the game up.

There will be five minutes added on!

Madrid change

OFF VinÍcius

ON Álvaro Rodriguez

Puado crosses to Braithwaite but the Dane's header goes well over the bar.

Espanyol are starting to play but they may have left it too late.

The Espanyol corner is defended and Madrid clear it.

Denis Suárez curls in a free from the tight. It's headed over by Cabrera but hits Rudiger on the way out and goes for a corner.

Ronael Pierre-Gabriel has come off. Aleix Vidal is going on to replace him.

Pierre-Gabriel is down injured. He's only been on the pitch 13 minutes and it looks like he'll have to go off after sliding to stop a Ceballos through-ball.

Denis Suárez sends in an excellent cross from the right. Militao gets up highest to head it clear. 2-1

Espanyol change it up

OFF Rubén Sánchez 
ON Javi Puado

OFF Jose Gragera
ON Denis Suárez

Madrid changes

OFF Toni Kroos
ON Dani Ceballos

OFF Aurélien Tchouaméni
ON Antonio Rudiger

Rodrygo curls the free up and over the wall. Pacheco is nowhere near it and it comes crashing off the crossbar!

Vini de Souza fouls Camavinga about 25 yards from goal. Before the free is taken, Madrid will make a couple of changes.

Madrid sub

OFF Luka Modric

ON Marco Asensio

Modric comes off to an ovation from the Bernabéu.

Espanyol change

OFF Oscar Gil

ON Ronael Pierre-Gabriel

The left-wing battle continues. It's Gil vs Vini Jr again and this time the former comes out on top with a strong, sliding tackle.

Gregera fouls Vinícius as he flicks it over his head. Kroos stands over the ball. The free is at an angle so he'll probably cross it. And that is what he does. Espanyol head it away.

Carvajal flattens Cabrera with a shoulder to the chest and gets away with it. He's lucky there.

Espanyol are content to sit in a low block and hit Madrid on the break. The away side, at the moment, don't look like scoring.

Rodrygo runs at Oscar Gil and wins a corner. Modric curls it in and Pacheco comes to punch it away. 

Oscar Gil is booked for an off-the-ball incident with Vinícius on the left flank. As the Brazilian goes to make a run, he's blocked by the full-back and is now down winded.

There has been a clash of heads between Rodrygo and Oscar Gil. It's a sore-looking one. Rodrygo is back on his feet; Gil is still down.

Eder Militao has scored 6 goals in a season for the first time in his career. He scored 5 for FC Porto in the 2018-19 campaign.

Modric whips in a very dangerous cross from the right. Espanyol deal with it. 

There are no half-time changes to report.

Real Madrid are ahead. Two goals from Brazilian duo Vinícius and Militao has the home side in front. 

And we're underway for the second half!

Real Madrid 2-1 Espanyol

After conceding an early goal to Joselu, Madrid grew into the game and have scored two in the first half through Vinícius and Militao.

Real Madrid lead 2-1 at the break!

There's the whistle for half-time!

Madrid threaten again!

Vinícius is the latest player to send in an outside-of-the-boot cross. Espanyol are able to deal with it. 

Vinícius has been terrific!

Real Madrid lead 2-1 at the Bernabéu. Espanyol haven't been able to hold onto their early lead.

Tchouaméni goes for the 'Modric' cross with the outside of his right boot and picks out Militao at the back post. The Brazilian heads it in off the crossbar and Madrid have the lead for the first time in this game!

It hasn't taken them long!

Kroos sends his free-kick straight into the Espanyol wall. It hits Montes, who goes to the ground.

Vinícius is yellow carded for a tussle with Rubén Sánchez. That looks like a pretty harsh booking.

Carvajal bends a deep ball to the back post. Vinícius picks it up and with not much space to work with, he suddenly creates half a yard and wins a corner with his shot.

Vinícius' last six goals in LaLiga have been scored at the Santiago Bernabéu. He has not scored away from home since 28 August 2022.

Real Madrid vs Espanyol: last five meetings

August 2022: Espanyol 1-3 Real Madrid, LaLiga

April 2022: Real Madrid 4-0 Espanyol, LaLiga

October 2021: Espanyol 2-1 Real Madrid, LaLiga

June 2020: Espanyol 0-1 Real Madrid, LaLiga

December 2019: Real Madrid 2-0 Espanyol, LaLiga

RODRYGO!

It's pretty ambitious - from the left, about 25 yards out. He curls it just over Pacheco and onto the roof of the net. 1-1

It's all Madrid now. Valverde collects it on the right; he cuts inside and shoots well over with his left. Ancelotti throws his arms in the air. 

Vini Jr equalises

It's 1-1 in the capital!

Vinícius picks the ball up on the touchline with so much to do. He drives forward, drops the shoulder, moves onto his right, keeps going, eventually moving past almost half the Espanyol team before curling a low shot into the far bottom right corner. He couldn't have placed it better with his hands. What a goal! What a player!

GOAL Vinícius!

GOAL!

After some patient build-up play, Vinícius cuts back onto his right foot from the left and curls a cross to the back post for Carvajal, who fires a volley high and wide. 0-1

Cabrera gets a booking for dragging Rodrygo off the ball near the corner flag. It's an early booking - never a good thing.

The ball is sent in from the right. Vini Souza is at the back post and hits the target with a header. Courtois is alert and responds well to keep it out. 

If you're only joining us, Espanyol are leading!

Camavinga receives it inside the box and shoots but Pacheco is well-positioned to claim the effort.

Espanyol have dropped quite a bit since scoring and are looking to hit Madrid on the break. Los Blancos have yet to test Pacheco.

Real Madrid 0-1 Espanyol

Joselu opens the scoring

It's a fine finish!

Camavinga has been caught out twice by Rubén Sánchez and the second time has resulted in the away side opening the scoring. 

Joselu scores his 12th goal of the season!

Rubén Sánchez beats Camavinga on the right again and sends in a cross to Joselu, who buries it, first time, past Courtois.

Eduardo Camavinga is caught going forward and Rubén Sánchez goes on a 60-yard run but is eventually caught.

Joselu is leading the line for the away side. He has been in fine form this season - scoring 11 goals in La Liga.

Braithwaite!

Braithwaite is played in but Militao sprints back to block the shot, which was hitting the target.

Espanyol are not a million miles off the relegation zone and also need the points. They could do their Catalan rivals a favour today.

With 14 games to go, there is still plenty to play for, but Madrid do need to win today to keep the pressure on Barcelona.

Madrid are playing from left to right. Espanyol, in pink, are playing the other way.

Espanyol get us underway!

Espanyol XI

Real Madrid XI

Nacho captains Madrid today, while Darder captains Espanyol.

The teams are in the tunnel. Kick-off is just minutes away!

Ancelotti's pre-match thoughts

Carlo Ancelotti spoke about the upcoming fixture against Espanyol. “They are going to play in a solid way, defensively organised, without leaving spaces”, he said. “We have to be motivated and focused.”

The Italian coach spoke also about defending, mentioning his own team and saying that the “defensive aspect is a collective effort. The quality is there but there are moments that go unseen or the forwards fail to press. The base of the defensive work, with this amount of quality, is very important.”

Real Madrid are only just hanging onto Barcelona’s coat-tails at the top of LaLiga and really can’t afford another slip-up after consecutive draws in the league against Atlético Madrid and Real Betis.

Carlo Ancelotti’s men haven’t won any of their last three matches and haven’t scored in the last two. A victory over Espanyol is a must and would move them to within six points of the top before Barcelona face a tough-looking away fixture at Athletic Club on Sunday. 

Bernabéu awaits

It's a nice, sunny afternoon in the capital. This is the Bernabéu from the inside; on the outside, a lot of work is being done in terms of construction. 

REAL MADRID

Real Madrid preparing legal action after Barcelona corruption charges

Real Madrid are set to take legal action against Barcelona after corruption charges were brought against the Catalan club over its relationship with former referees’ chief José María Enríquez Negreira.

On Friday, Spanish prosecutors filed a legal complaint against Barça and two of its former presidents, Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu, over payments the club made to Enríquez Negreira between 2001 and 2018. At the time, the former referee was the vice-president of Spain’s Technical Committee of Referees (CTA), which governs officiating in Spanish football.

KARIM BENZEMA

How did Benzema react to Deschamps’ interview on France World Cup injury?

Karim Benzema has hit out at Didier Deschamps after the France head coach said the decision to remove the striker from Les Bleus’ World Cup squad was made with the 35-year-old’s agreement.

“What audacity,” the Real Madrid star wrote on Instagram, accompanying his post with a ‘clown’ emoji.

Espanyol pre-match

They've arrived at the famous ground in Madrid. Kick-off is less than an hour away!

REAL MADRID

Karim Benzema’s injury worries for Real Madrid

Benzema won't play against Espanyol today due to “ankle discomfort”. This is the 14th game he will not feature in this season due to various injuries. Madrid have not had Benzema, not even on the bench, in 34% of their games in 2022-23.

Espanyol’s patchy form

Looking at the LaLiga table would make you think that Espanyol are fairly safe but just four points separate them in 13th and Valenica in 19th.

Their form has been inconsistent since the World Cup, with four victories, three draws and three defeats in their last 10 LaLiga outings.

Espanyol XI

Here is the Espanyol XI chosen to take on the reigning league champions.

2nd vs 13th

It's 2nd vs 13th at the Bernabéu. Their recent record is as follows:

August 2022: Espanyol 1-3 Real Madrid, LaLiga

April 2022: Real Madrid 4-0 Espanyol, LaLiga

October 2021: Espanyol 2-1 Real Madrid, LaLiga

June 2020: Espanyol 0-1 Real Madrid, LaLiga

December 2019: Real Madrid 2-0 Espanyol, LaLiga

Espanyol's matchday squad

The Catalans have yet to announce their starting XI, but here is the squad that has travelled to Madrid. 

Early team news from the capital

Here is how Los Blancos will start today. 

It's not always the early slot Real Madrid get but here we are. Espanyol travel south, to the capital, and will be hoping to keep the home side at bay. They could do their rivals Barcelona a big favour today. Madrid need a win or Barcelona could extend their already large lead at the top. 

Real Madrid vs Espanyol: welcome!

Hello and welcome to AS USA's live coverage of this LaLiga match between Real Madrid and Espanyol.

We are in the building and will offer live text commentary on today's game in Madrid!