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Final Score Real Madrid 2 Valencia 2
Barcelona, a bottle of your finest to Diego Alves if you please.
The Brazilian goalkeeper was in flying form, saving a penalty from Ronaldo in first half stoppage time and then making a number of improbable stops in the second half as Real Madrid flooded forward. One from a Hernandez header in open play was superb, another from Ramos' header from a corner was as good as you'll ever see.
With two games to play, Barcelona are now four points ahead. Personally I blame Gareth Bale.
21.00
Barcelona now need a single win, from a trip to Atletico Madrid and Deportivo at home. Real need to beat Espanyol and Getafe and hope for snookers. Realistically, all their hopes rest on the midweek Champions League game with Juventus. Strike/league suspension or not, Barcelona surely have this in the bag now.
Spanish journalist Guillem Balague and former Spain international Gaizka Mendieta don't seem to hold out much hope for the Juventus game either.
Balague said: "Ancelotti has a chance of getting a title with the Champions League, but you have tired legs there for sure. Juventus have rested this weekend, Real Madrid haven’t. It’s a massive task for them to come back in that game from 2-1 down. Allegri will be delighted what he’s seen tonight."
Mendieta added: "Madrid looked weak. Valencia could have got more out of it. It’s not a team, it’s not compact, it relies on the individual."
There's also a suggestion that Iker Casillas stormed straight off at the final whistle, upset with the crowd's reaction towards him.
Final Score Real Madrid 2 Valencia 2
90+5 mins
Or, in fact, this. A free kick on the byline, right on the edge of the penalty area. Rodriguez takes it, Pepe climbs, heads it down, Alves somehow palms the ball onto the inside of the post. The whistle has gone, it's a free kick to Valencia.
90+4 mins
Real Madrid are going to finish with a corner kick. It's all come down to this.
Or, actually, this. Another corner, Bale's header deflected over.
90+3 mins
If Valencia do go on and lose this, they'll kick themselves for this. De Paul and Negredo break away two on two into the Madrid half. They both have chances to shoot, but when the effort eventually comes it's weak under challenge from Carvajal and goes straight to the keeper.
89 mins
A very generous five minutes of stoppage time added to the end of the game. Parejo booked for a cynical chop on the halfway line. Madrid will pack the penalty box for this one.
87 mins
Now Valencia have a corner, and they’re packing the penalty area, not settling for a point. Madrid clear the ball. Winger Piatti off, defender Orban on for the visitors.
85 mins
Ronaldo fouled right on the edge of the penalty box. Does redemption await?
No. Not yet anyway. Ronaldo's kick hits the man on the end of the wall, wrong-foots the keeper, and flies wide of the post. Valencia clear the resulting corner. Noise deafening, stomach churning, nurse, the big tablets please.
84 mins
Parejo shoots a foot over the Real Madrid bar from the edge of the box. Getting a bit silly this game now. Like something Kevin Keegan might paint.
GOAL!!!! REAL MADRID 2 Valencia 2 Isco 83 mins
Penny for Negredo's thoughts. Two sitters missed, and now Madrid equalise. Isco taking matters into his own hands with a powerful 25 yarder that fades away from Alves and into the top corner. Can Madrid save their season with a third?
82 mins
Former Real Madrid trainee Danny Parejo has been giving something of a set piece masterclass on the sly tonight - eveyr delivery dangerous. His latest free kick leaves Negredo with a free header, eight yards out with no defenders around himn but he glances it wide instead of planting it home. Somewhere out there Duncan Ferguson is tutting and shaking his head.
80 mins
Never mind finishing line in sight, the game should have been ended right there. De Paul, fresh from the bench, robbed Ramos and accelerated into the Real Madrid area before chipping it across for Negredo who, all alone and unmarked, lashes over the bar. Could have, would have, should have.
77 mins
Gomes off, De Paul on, Valencia engaged in some serious clock running now. The finishing line is, just about, in sight.
72 mins
Gomes booked for his seventeenth foul of the evening, on Marcelo this time. Rodriguez tries and outswinger, Ramos meets it powerfully at the back post and how Alves has saved that one I certainly can't even begin to explain. Maybe De Gea might stay at Man Utd after all, Madrid will be after this lad instead. Not only that, but he's now feigning a thigh injury and demanding treatment, enabling his team mates to take on water and instructions. What a guy. A wonderful display of goalkeeping.
70 mins
Negredo's role and value apparent immediately - his muscular presence wins a corner which, if nothing else, gets the ball to the other end of the pitch for a minute or so.
67 mins
See, I can do this job. Alcacer is heading off, job done for the evening with that first goal. Alvaro Negredo, on loan from Man City, comes on. Not sure another striker is what they need, but when you don't have Chris Hope and Russ Wilcox to bring on there's only so much you can do I guess. As play resumes, Ronaldo dips a free kick wide of the post with Alves scrambling across to cover the shot.
65 mins
In my humble opinion (consecutive UEFA cup successes with Scunthorpe United on Championship Manager 03/04) Valencia could do with a change or two. They're starting to look leggy, and stuck between all out defence and still trying to attack. They're doing a dangerous version of neither.
63 mins
Valencia seem to have gathered themselves. Gaya, whose magnificent cross set up the first goal, repeats the dose with a fine centre from the left that Alcacer stretches for but cannot reach.
61 mins
Ancelotti urging calm and patience from the touchline. To hell with that, more fire I say. Bale charges forward, lays it into Hernandez and he miscues it over the bar.
GOAL!!!! REAL MADRID 1 Valencia 2 Pepe 56 mins
But he can't keep the ball out from the resulting corner as Pepe continues his all-action, curate's egg of a performance with a powerful downward header into the net. Game on.
55 mins
Alves' wow of an evening continues. First Bale gets caught between heading or volleying a cross at the back post, chooses the latter and ends up making a mess of things with his boot up round his ear. Hernandez retrieves the situation and then gets in the six yard box to plant a firm header at goal from close range. It looks a goal all day long but Alves makes a fabulous save down in the bottom corner to keep it out.
51 mins
Another tick on your Pepe cards. This time he charges into Barragan as the pair wait for a corner to be delivered. The Valencia man hits the deck as if he's been knifed. Another load of old nonsense.
50 mins
Ronaldo's latest attempt is from a free kick. Again it's all fluff and build up, and Alves is able to punch it clear as it swings in towards the far post.
48 mins
When there's some actual defending to do, no sign of Pepe or Ramos. Parejo's near post corner is powered over by Mustafi who'd been left completely unmarked.
47 mins
Alves turning into Valencia's hero of the night here. This time he dives right to save well from Hernandez who shot powerfully from a tight angle. Meanwhile in our ongoing game of Pepe Bingo - eyes down for any line across - we now have him needlessly crashes into the back of André Gómes leaving him with minor women's whiplash. Yellow card issued, Pepe lies down on the pitch and looks to the sky like he's been wronged by a great injustice.
46 mins
Bear with me a moment here, it appears that Real Madrid have made two subs at half time, which along with the Kroos withdrawal earlier means he has no more cards left to play. Oddly, he's chosen to replace both full backs - Coentrão off for Marcelo, Arbeloa off for Carvajal.
Half Time Real Madrid 0 Valencia 2
The title could be heading to Barcelona tonight, league suspension or not.
45 mins
With a minute to go until half time, Valencia have let Real Madrid back in. Gaya, already on a yellow card, sticks two hands in Bale's back and shoves him over in the penalty area. Bale was never getting to the ball - it's a daft, daft challenge and a definite penalty.
So here comes Ronaldo, starting his run up three quarters of a mile away, walking at first, then stopping, then jogging, and stopping, then checking his fringe, winking at the camera, walking, stopping, running, walking, stopping and finally, finally, finally reaching the ball and striking it towards the goal. Diego Alves dives right and saves it.
And that's half time.
40 mins
That's as close as Real Madrid have come. Flowing attack ends with Bale in the right channel of the penalty box and he squares it for Hernandez - dead centre, 12 yards out - who side-foots the ball against the post and out for a goal kick.
39 mins
Diego Alves caught trying to wind the clock down by Hernandez who blocks the subsequent clearance up into the sky. It could land anywhere, but the keeper gets away with it. At the other end Arbeloa chests it down for Casillas but Ramos panics and wildly hacks the ball away from between the two of them. Cut to a shot of Bale.
36 mins
Signs of frustration from Bale? Parejo, once of Real Madrid, collapses as the Welsh winger shoulder barges him in the back. Valencia object, as they would. Free kick and no card. Whistles all around.
35 mins
Pepe, caught in a tangle of legs in his own area, throws himself to the ground and rolls around screaming. There's nothing in it. If only he'd committed to defending that earlier free kick with such gusto.
33 mins
Bale, from the thick end of 30 yards, seeks out the top corner with a dipping, swerving left foot barnburner. Diego Alves climbs into the early evening sky, arches his back, thrusts up a right arm, and says 'not today Boyo'. Spectacular camera save.
30 mins
The Spanish director clearly has his editorial line set for this one. After both goals he cut straight to a shot of Gareth Bale, who had nothing to do with either of them.
GOAL!!!! Real Madrid 0 VALENCIA 2 Javi Fuego 28 min
This is turning into a nightmare for the hosts who can see the league title slipping away. Pepe to blame this time, dropping deep to defend a free kick while the rest of his team stepped up to play offside. That leaves Fuego at the front of a queue of three unmarked Valencia players to head home.
26 mins
Bad to worse for Real Madrid. Toni Kroos hasn't recovered from that earlier fall and he's going off. Arbeloa, meanwhile, is yellow carded for a cynical foul.
24 mins
Ronaldo almost responds immediately, launching himself into the air to execute a typically extravagant scissor kick that Valencia are able to repel by crowding their own six yard box.
GOAL!!!! Real Madrid 0 VALENCIA 1 Alcacer 22 min
Against the run of play, Valencia take the lead. Gaya’s cross from the left is undefendable, right into the corridor between the defence and the goalkeeper. Alcacer says ‘thanks very much’ and steals in to make it 1-0.
20 mins
Rodriguez’s well-flighted corner is powered towards goal by Ronaldo, but once more the ball bounces back into play off the cross bar. Maybe it’s Valencia’s, and Barcelona’s, night.
18 mins
Gaya, who gave away the first free kick, hasn't learnt his lesson and for this second goul on Bale in three minutes he's yellow carded. An inswinging delivery is headed down by Ramos to Bale who hits the bar again from close range, but the flag is up for offside.
15 mins
Bale fouled on the edge of the box sets up a free kick well right of centre that is crying out for a left-footed strike. Ronaldo does indeed let the Welshman shoot and he curls the ball over the wall, past the goalkeeper, and flush against the crossbar.
14 mins
Now Kroos crashes to earth after Gómes made a back for him. Looks a sore one. Real Madrid crowding around the official angry at the last couple of decisions.
12 mins
Magnificent chance for Valencia. Alcacer runs through on the goal and nonchalantly chips the ball over Cassilas and over the bar. He thinks a foul has been given on pepe in back play, which certainly should have happened. But the referee hasn’t blown, and the goal would have counted. Play to the whistle, said everybody ever. Valencia should be in front.
4 mins
First Ronaldo dive of the evening, chucking himself to the ground on the edge of the area under slight contact from Barragan as Hernandez tries to thread a pass through. Even Ronaldo is laughing at that one.
3 mins
Real respond with a raid down the left flank, and a cross that Gareth Bale is honing in on before it's cleared under pressure.
1 min
Anyway, we're underway now. Valencia, one defeat in 14 games, and one victory against Real Madrid already under their belts this season, draw an early flying save from Casillas as Alcacer tries his luck from 20 yards.
19.00
A moment of silence, and whale music, as a mark os respect to the victims of the Nepal earthquake. Real Madrid are wearing shirts asking for donations on a day when Ronaldo has reportedly donated £5m to the appeal.
18.45
No favours for Real Madrid from David Moyes' Real Sociedad. Despite a brave defensive effort, they've been beaten 2-0 at Barcelona which lifts the Catalans side five points clear at the top of the table.
Real Madrid need to win here, and cut that gap back to two, then hope the apparent impending suspension and strike doesn't end the league here and now tonight.
Valencia need points too, holding onto the fourth Champions League spot and three points ahead of Europa League specialists Seville at the start of play.
18.28
The teams are in:
Real Madrid: Casillas; Arbeloa, Pepe, Ramos, Coentrao; Isco, Kroos, James; Bale, Hernandez, Ronaldo.
Valencia: Diego Alves; Barragan, Otamendi, Mustafi, Gaya; Javi Fuego, Parejo; Feghouli, André Gómes, Piatti; Alcacer.
18.00
Real Madrid’s season, and in all likelihood Carlo Ancelotti’s future employment, still balances on a knife edge.
They are still in with an excellent chance of winning the Champions League. That despite a 2-1 midweek defeat in Juventus – a scoreline both teams deserved for their respective performances. All the talk since has been about Gareth Bale, who was insipid in an unfamiliar position, completing fewer passes than any team mate.
They may also still win La Liga – if it finishes, of which more later. Two points behind Barcelona at the start of play, with the Catalans side facing a tough trip to Atletico Madrid next week, it’s all there for them.
They could win it all, or nothing, and with a maximum of five games remaining that’s quite a position to be in. To maintain it, they’ll need to beat Valencia tonight, who themselves are chasing the final Champions League place. Kick off at 19.00, we’ll have it all live here for you.
Preview
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti has backed both Gareth Bale and the rest of his side to hit top form again "very soon" as they look to keep from ending the season empty-handed.
Bale came in for criticism for his performance in the midweek Champions League semi-final first leg against Juventus, with match statistics showing the world's most expensive signing had the fewest touches and made the fewest passes of any Madrid player.
• Ronaldo 'donates £5m to help Nepal after earthquake'
None of the Madrid side covered themselves in glory, though, as the holders were beaten 2-1 in Turin, but Ancelotti has faith it is only a blip for his troops.
He said: "I haven't read the statistic (about Bale) because it doesn't give me much of a great idea of how the game was. His game in Turin was like that of Real Madrid.
"I don't need to talk with him. He will be back playing well very soon, like Real Madrid."
• Where has it all gone wrong for Bale?
Madrid fans will be hoping 'very soon' means immediately, because the club's season could be defined in the next six days as they face fourth-placed Valencia in La Liga today before hosting Juve in the return leg of their European semi-final next Wednesday.
Valencia are arguably the hardest of Madrid's three remaining league matches and if they can win that - and make it eight La Liga victories on the trot - then they would ramp up the pressure on leaders Barcelona.
Barca are currently two points clear of Madrid and host mid-table Real Sociedad today, but in their next fixture the treble-chasing Catalans must go to outgoing champions Atletico Madrid.
That penultimate round of fixtures could end up deciding the title, but it remains to be seen when they will take place with the Spanish football federation suspending all domestic competitions indefinitely from May 16 over a dispute regarding television rights.
Ancelotti believes a solution will be found, though, adding: "I honestly think that it's a matter that will be fixed in the coming days. The parties are going to meet and are going to take the right decisions so that the league finishes on the set date."
Atletico may not be able to retain their title any more but they cannot switch off as Valencia are only four points behind them, and Diego Simeone's side will be eyeing Sunday's trip to lowly Levante as a good chance to keep Los Che at bay.
Valencia are also under pressure themselves with Sevilla only three points behind in fifth.
The Andalusians, who took a huge step towards the Europa League final on Thursday with a 3-0 win over Fiorentina, travel to Celta Vigo this weekend.
Join Clive Whittingham from 6pm for all the build-up and live action...
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