LIVE: Real Madrid v Barcelona - El Clasico as it happened from the Bernabeu

By Ian Ladyman

PUBLISHED: 23:00 EST, 1 March 2013 | UPDATED: 12:26 EST, 2 March 2013

Follow Sportsmail's coverage of El Clasico as Real Madrid face Barcelona for the second time inside a week when they clash at the Bernabeu in La Liga. A Cristiano Ronaldo double inspired Jose Mourinho's team to a 3-1 win at the Nou Camp midweek, taking them to the final of the Spanish Cup. But it's a different mood in the top flight with Barca hoping to pull 19 points clear of their rivals.

FULL TIME: Real 2 Barcelona 1

All over here and it has ended 2-1 to Real. The closing moments weren’t without controversy as referee Miguel Angel Perez Lasa failed to spot what looked like a clear foul by Ramos on Adriano in the penalty area.

The official didn’t give it and found himself surrounded by Barcelona players as he tried to leave the field at the end.

Goalkeeper Valdes was so vociferous that was sent off after the full-time whistle and had to be physically hauled towards the tunnel by his team-mates. Even when you think it may be dull here, it isn’t.

90+2min Big appeals for a penalty for Barcelona, who have surrounded the referee. However, the decision stands - Adriano dived in the box under challenge from Ramos!

90min We enter three minutes of stoppage time. Real still doing all the attacking and Alves goes into the book for bringing down Ronaldo.

88min Final change for Barcelona as Tello comes on for Thiago. A last roll of the dice.

86min Ronaldo hits the crossbar! It was a sumptuous free-kick that had beaten everyone, including Valdes, but not the woodwork.

85min Five minutes plus stoppages for Barcelona to find an equaliser. But Real have a free-kick now - in prime Ronaldo territory.

GOAL! Real 2 (Sergio Ramos) Barcelona 1

Sure enough, Madrid have the lead. They have been the better team for the last 20 minutes and their substitutions have given them impetus whereas Barcelona’s have only served to muddle them.

Captain Sergio Ramos was the scorer, heading in a Modric corner from the left. Six minutes left here plus added time and the Bernabeu has found its voice.

79min Michael Essien is on the floor, rolling around and clutching his forehead. He clashes with Alexis there and required treatment.

76min Adriano is coming on for Barcelona, in place of Pedro.

75min The villain of an increasingly fractious afternoon, Pepe has just produced the pass of the game to almost edge Real in to the lead. Played with the outside of his right foot in to the path of the breaking Morata.

The Real winger’s first touch was good but Valdes was out quickly to smother the shot.

73min This game must be getting tetchy - even Messi is in the book.

Floored: Pepe is denied the ball by Daniel Alves

71min Third and final change for Real as Arbeloa comes on for Coentrao.

Scampering run down the left from Ronaldo there, but he can only fire into the side netting.

70min The game has been broken up for ten minutes or so by a rash of bookings, most of them for petty, unnecessary fouls.

Twenty minutes to go and Real are all of a sudden looking the more likely winners. The way things have gone for both teams recently, you wouldn’t put it past them. 

Welcome: Ronaldo is greeted by Gerard Pique after coming on as a second half sub

68min Change for Barcelona with Alexis coming on for David Villa.

67min The referee flashing yellow cards around regularly now - this time it's Morata who goes in the book.

A minute later and Thiago joins him.

65min Booking now for Coentrao after raising his hand to Alves.

64min Ronaldo with one of his customary free-kicks from about 35 yards out - it dips and swerves and Valdes manages to fist it away.

Aerial battle: Fabio Coentrao falls as his team mate Pepe goes for the ball

60min Immediately the atmosphere has gone up a notch here. Ronaldo’s very first contribution was to draw a foul from Gerard Pique, for which his former Manchester United team-mate was rather harshly booked.

His second, meanwhile, almost saw him latch on to the end of a far post cross from young Morata. Madrid are a different team when Ronaldo plays, that’s for sure.

57min Booking there for Alba for getting a little too physical with Pepe

55min  Good chance there for Barcelona - Messi into Jordi Alba and he delivers a very dangerous cross that just evades Villa. The corner is cleared by Ramos.

Ronaldo is also about to be introduced.

53min The first yellow card of the game is awarded to Sergio Ramos for handball.

51min Barcelona's bright start to the second half continues as Messi takes another set-piece. However, the referee spotted an infringement from Villa and gives Real a foul.

49min Javier Mascherano with a very ambitious free-kick from 50 yards - unsurprisingly, he's wide of the mark.

45min The second half is underway and cries of ‘Ronaldo’ have just swept round the Bernabeu after the golden child emerged from the dug out to warm up.

Incidentally, Messi’s goal was his 50th of the Spanish season. And it’s only March.

Head tennis: Andres Iniesta and Pepe compete for possession

HALF-TIME: Real 1 Barcelona 1

Half-time is here and what a slightly odd experience this has been. Not only is it unusual to see a Clasico played in daylight, the lack of atmosphere and genuine competitive edge will mean that there will be few clues for Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson when he looks at the tape tomorrow.

Barcelona remain the better team but Mourinho won’t be unhappy.

41min Barcelona threatening there, this time down the right side. Good reading of the play by Pepe to clear it away. Pepe, of course, is claiming that Jordi Alba fouled him.

39min Good chance for Real - Luka Modric surges down the right and flights a good cross to the far post, where Morata heads wide of the mark.

Challenge: Andres Iniesta slides in to win the ball from Karim Benzema

37min Exciting build-up from David Villa down the left flank, reaches the byline and then inexplicably delivers a cross that isn't any good to anyone. It hits the far corner flag and goes out.

34min A spell of Barcelona keep ball has just created a chance for Messi but, remarkably, he missed it.

Certainly it looked odds-on a second goal for the la Liga leaders when a slip by Ramos gave Messi space on the edge of the penalty area but the shot was too close to Diego Lopez and he saved it without even having to move.

Real need to find a way back in to this game, though. They have offered precious little since they scored.

Duel: Lionel Messi tries to steal the ball off Pepe

28min Still all square in Madrid but there are the first signs of bad blood.

Pepe has just spent a minute lying on the ground – having barely been touched by Thiago – and Barcelona have angered home fans by giving their opponents the ball back a full 50 yards further inside their own half then where they originally kicked it out to stop play.

My sympathy is with Barca. Pepe – quite simply – wasn’t hurt.

23min Optimistic shouts for a Madrid penalty as the ball brushes past Pique's hand - in reality, Morata's cross had struck Iniesta in the face.

21min Mourinho much more animated since the equaliser - he's off his seat and waving his arms frantically in his technical area.

GOAL! Real Madrid 1 Barcelona 1 (Messi 17)

Barcelona’s response to going behind has been pretty impressive and, with 17 minutes gone, they have an equaliser.

Barcelona had been threatening to get behind the Madrid back four for a while and when Alves played Messi clear, goalkeeper Diego Lopez’s decision to stay on his line gave the Argentinean the opportunity to cut inside and beat him at his near post with a low left-foot shot. Game on.

Leveller: Lionel Messi's 50th goal of the season brought Barcelona level on 17 minutes

15min Cute chipped ball over the top of the Real defence by Thiago but it's just a little too long for Messi, who had broke through.

13min Messi trying to weave his way through the Madrid defence, but loses control temporarily and Madrid manage to hack it clear.

8min Barcelona respond well after conceding, with neat work from Thiago, Messi and Iniesta on the edge of the penalty box... only for Alves to surrender possession.

GOAL! Real Madrid 1 (Benzema) Barcelona 0

Six minutes gone here and we have a goal for Madrid. Morata got to the by-line beyond Alves and his low cross from the left was side footed in at the far post by Benzema.

Try telling the Madrid fans that this game doesn’t matter. Mourinho, meanwhile, hasn’t emerged from the bench yet.

Barcelona have conceded a goal in their last 13 matches now in all competitions.

Great start: Karim Benzema gave Real the lead on five minutes, to the delight of the home crowd

Early goal: Karim Benzema celebrates with Jose Maria Callejon after scoring in the fifth minute

2min We are underway at a sun-drenched Bernabeu and immediately apparent is a slightly peculiar Madrid formation.

Former Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien is playing at right-back while Pepe – normally a central defender – is playing the holding role in front of the back four. Mourinho must have had a rough night.

3pm The teams are out on the field and the latest Clasico is about to get underway.

2.51pm Less than ten minutes until kick-off and the atmosphere is building nicely.

2.48pm Thanks to Infostrada Sport for the following bit of research - the last afternoon Clasico was on February 14, 1999.

And it was a bit of a Valentine's Day massacre too, as Louis van Gaal's Barcelona beat Guus Hiddink's Madrid 3-0.

2.44pm There are so many Clasicos these days, it can be hard to keep track of them all.

But Messi's record at the Bernabeu is: Won 6 Drawn 3 Lost 3 Scored 8 and provided 7 assists.

Dani Alves, meanwhile, has never lost at the Bernabeu.

2.36pm There's barely a game goes by without Lionel Messi setting some kind of record and there's every chance he will score his 50th goal of the season this afternoon - he is one shy of the benchmark.

By starting, he will surpass Roberto Carlos as the foreigner with the most Clasico appearances (25).

Messi will also be aiming to continue a hot sequence of scoring in the league - he has 25 goals in his last 15 matches.

2.32pm Today's match is unlikely to have much bearing on the destination of the La Liga title, with Barcelona currently 16 points clear of third-placed Real and destined, bar a massive late collapse, to wrest the title back.

2.25pm Beautiful day in Madrid and a chance maybe for Barcelona to avenge Tuesday night’s Spanish Cup defeat to their great rivals. You can remind yourself of what happened here.

With Tuesday’s Champions League game at Manchester United in mind, Real coach Jose Mourinho has rested a number of players for this game, including Cristiano Ronaldo.

Also absent are Alonso, Ozil, Khedira and Di Maria. Barcelona, meanwhile, have revealed a team featuring Messi, Iniesta and Villa. There is no Fabregas, though.

Bragging rights: Real Madrid and Cristiano Ronaldo achieved a 3-1 win (4-2 on aggregate) over Barcelona in the Copa del Rey in midweek

2.20pm Good afternoon and welcome to Sportsmail's live coverage of the Clasico between Real Madrid and Barcelona at the Bernabeu.

Ian Ladyman will be keeping us up to date with all the excitement in this rare early kick-off live from Madrid.

We start with the respective team line-ups, and the major surprise is that Cristiano Ronaldo has been left on the bench in anticipation of Tuesday night's Champions League return with former club Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Here are the two teams:

Real Madrid: Lopez; Ramos, Varane, Pepe, Coentrao; Essien, Modric; Callejon, Kaka, Morata; Benzema

Barcelona: Valdes; Alba, Piqué, Mascherano, Alves;- Busquets, Thiago, Iniesta; Villa, Messi,  Pedro