Real madrid vs malaga

1'And we're off! Real Madrid get us underway, attacking from right to left.The two sides are making their way out onto the pitch, with just a few minutes to go until kick-off.Meanwhile, Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane has made three alterations to the side that featured in the aforementioned win away to Roma during the week, with the main talking point being the inclusion of Jese, who takes the place of the injured Karim Benzema. Meanwhile, Raphael Varane, who is suspended, makes way for Nacho, whilst James Rodriguez is replaced by Mateo Kovacic.Javi Gracia has decided to make two changes to the Malaga side that lost 1-0 against Villarreal last Saturday, with Recio and Ricardo Horta coming into thestarting line-up to replace Fernando Tissone and Pablo Fornals, respectively.Real Madrid substitutes: Casilla, Arbeloa, Danilo, Casemiro, Rodriguez, Mayoral,Vazquez.Real Madrid XI (4-3-3): Navas; Carvajal, Nacho, Ramos, Marcelo; Modric, Kroos, Kovacic; Isco, Jese, Ronaldo.Malaga substitutes: Ochoa, Filipenko, Boka, Duda, Fornals,Uche, Santa Cruz.Malaga XI (4-4-2): Kameni; Rosales, Albentosa, Weligton, Torres; Anor, Recio, Camacho, Horta; Charles, Cop.There’s just over 15 minutes left to go until kick-off, so let’s have a look at how the two teams will be lining up afternoon…As for Malaga, they head into today’s game in a respectable 11th place, equal on points with 10th-place Real Sociedadand with the opportunity to move within five points of a Europa League qualifying spotif they are able to pull off whatwould be a shock win. Los Boquerones suffered a frustrating and narrow 1-0 defeat away to Villarreal last weekend, but they have lost just once in their previous fivehome games in the top flight, with that defeat coming against Barcelona almost a month ago. When required they have be known to be a compact and well-organised side, one that defend resolutely before picking apartopponents on the counter. As a result, this afternoon’s clashcould prove to be a tricky one for Real Madrid.A hard-fought but vitally important 2-1 win away to Las Palmas yesterday keeps Barcelona in the driving seat at the top of La Liga, meaning that, once again, Real Madrid head into a league clash knowing that only a win will doif they are to keep up with the in-form reigning champions. After suffering a disappointingmonth in the run-up to the annual winter break, Los Blancos have been in impressive form since the 10-2 thrashing of Rayo Vallecano in their final game before Christmas. Since then they are unbeaten in all of their nine domestic games, with seven of those ending in victories, including high-scoring affairs against Deportivo La Coruna, Sporting Gijon and Espanyol. Last Wednesday also saw ZinedineZidane’s men beat Roma 2-0 to give them a good chance ofreaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League, and that well-worked victory will no doubt have filled them withconfidence ahead of this afternoon’s must-win encounter.Good afternoon and welcome to our live text commentary of today’s La Liga game betweenMalaga and Real Madrid at theEstadio La Rosaleda.