Good evening, sports fans! It’s over to the Spanish capital this evening, where two of the best teams on the globe go face-to-face.

Earlier this evening, Atletico Madrid moved to top of the La Liga thanks to a 2-0 win away to Real Betis — with Real Madrid level on points with their city rivals and Barcelona four points further back.

Diego Simeone’s side are attempting to spoil the party this season but tonight it’s all about the El Clasico.

Kick off is 25 minutes away, so let’s have your predictions…

How will the game go? Tell us in the comments section below.

Here are the teams:

Real Madrid: Lopez, Pepe, Ramos, Marcelo, Alonso, Carvajal, Modric, Di Maria, Ronaldo, Benzema, Bale.

Barcelona: Valdes, Alves, Pique, Mascherano, Jordi Alba, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Fabregas, Messi, Neymar.

This is new ad from Beats by Dre (probably) captures what it’s like to be Cesc Fabregas pre-match:

Source: Beats by Dre

For several years now, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have been widely-regarded as the top two players in the world. Both start tonight but here’s a look at two of the new boys — Gareth Bale and Neymar.

Will it be their night?

Source: Twitter/Sky Sports La Liga

We’ve got five talking points for you to have a quick read of if you haven’t already. Here’s the first one:

1. Under-fire Neymar must come good

For the money Barcelona spent on him, Neymar hasn’t exactly set Camp Nou alight as of yet.

The Brazilian international has just seven goals in 20 appearances so far, and has received criticism in some quarters for failing to live up to his excessive price tag.

However, at 22, Neymar has plenty of time to prove his doubters wrong, and making an impact tonight, as he did in the reverse fixture, would go some way towards achieving that.

His coach, Gerardo Martino, is one of those who has defended the star in the wake of criticism, especially of his recent Champions League displays.

“Firstly, I think he played very well against Manchester City in the second leg and, secondly, I will reaffirm what I have said many times that Neymar is one of the top five players in the world,” Martino said.

“I don’t need to see one match, half a match, nor even 10 matches to confirm the qualities that he has. I don’t think it will be long before people stop talking about him like just another player because he isn’t.”

Read the other four here.

There have been some classics over the years. Remember this 3-3 draw from 2007?

Source: Alessandro Fin

For more great meetings between Real Madrid and Barca, click here.

After a serious amount of hype and build-up, we’re about to get down to business. The teams have shaken hands and we’re all set.

The Bernabeu looks magnificent tonight!

Here are the teams lining up… in 8-bit form:

Source: Twitter/8bit-football.com

Madrid kick off and are on the attack straight away. Both teams in their traditional home strips.

Ronaldo has a go at Dani Alves for the first time tonight and after a bit of trickery, the Portuguese star is dispossessed by Javier Mascherano. Immediately, we’re down the other end as Messi plays in Neymar but his tame strike is easily saved by Diego Lopez.

Karim Benzema gets a sight at goal but is well off-target with the attempt. Bale then clips a cross towards Ronaldo, who goes down in the box. Nothing in that.

GOAL! Real Madrid 0-1 Barcelona (Andres Iniesta)

Oh my, what a hit! Iniesta is found by Messi and the Spaniard takes one touch and rifles the ball into the top corner.

Tata Martino looks happy and so he should be. The game is only seven minutes old.

Check out the goal. Couldn’t have hit it much sweeter…

Source: FootbalLeague

Bale drives forward and feeds Benzema before being taken out. The striker checks inside and pulls the trigger but it’s weak.

The Frenchman then fluffs an even better chance. Angel Di Maria does brilliantly to get beyond Alves and cuts back to where Benzema is arriving. He sweeps the shot over the bar, however.

Suprer chance for Messi and you would have put your house on him finishing that. He beats the offside trap and latches onto a Xavi pass but drags a left-footed shot past Lopez’s post.

End to end at the moment and Ronaldo has just tried his luck from distance. He won’t trouble Valdes like that though.

Seconds later, Neymar gets on the wrong side of Pepe but the Brazilian-born Portuguese international recovers well to block the shot.

GOAL! Real Madrid 1-1 Barcelona (Karim Benzema)

We’re all-square. Di Maria’s delivery from the left is perfect and Benzema rises highest to power a header on target.

Valdes gets a strong hand but can only push it onto the inside of the post.

GOAL! Real Madrid 2-1 Barcelona (Karim Benzema)

My word! What a game we’ve got here. Madrid get success down that left side again as Marcelo finds Di Maria and his cross is expertly controlled by Benzema.

The former Lyon frontman sets himself up by controlling with his knee, then volleys into the corner.

Benzema could easily have had a hat-trick in the opening half hour. Yet again, Di Maria works his magic before Benzema side-foots towards the bottom corner but Gerard Pique clears off the line.

Benzema’s double:

Source: 720P HD SPORT

Source: M10HighlightsCR7

Di Maria has been hugely influential so far but has just become the first player to be booked due to a rash challenge on Neymar.

GOAL! Real Madrid 2-2 Barcelona (Lionel Messi)

The little Argentine magician skips past a couple of challenges, feeds Neymar and gets it back to drill home an equaliser from eight yards out.

Directly after that goal, there was a bit of handbags from (you guessed it) Pepe. Never far from controversy, the defender went down holding his head after a coming together between him and Fabregas.

Get in with it already!

Half-time: Real Madrid 2-2 Barcelona

I don’t know about you but I need a glass of water after all that. Back in a tick.

Right, who’s ready for the second half?

Five minutes of the second half and both teams are looking to rediscover some momentum in their play but several niggly fouls have meant it has been extremely stop-start so far.

Gareth Bale, who has been pretty quiet so far, bursts through the Barcelona backline and slips a pass into the path of Benzema. He strikes cleanly but Valdes stands tall and makes the block.

PENALTY TO REAL MADRID…

GOAL! Real Madrid 3-2 Barcelona (Cristiano Ronaldo)

Ronaldo goes on a jinking run and is caught by the trailing foot of Dani Alves. The referee points to the spot but upon watching the replay, it becomes clear that the contact was made OUTSIDE the box.

No matter, the spot-kick is given and Ronaldo scores La Liga goal number 26 for the season with a clinical finish.

Madrid’s front three Ronaldo, Benzema and Bale all combine to create a really good chance for the Welshman. Not for the first time tonight, Valdes covers himself well and concedes a corner.

A Barcelone corner is headed out as far as Iniesta and has snap-shot deflects behind off Bale.

This is where contact was made for the penalty. Make up your own mind…

Source: Twitter

PENALTY TO BARCELONA…

GOAL! Real Madrid 3-3 Barcelona (Lionel Messi)

Neymar is clipped by Sergio Ramos as he was bearing down on goal and Sergio Ramos receives his marching orders.

With Madrid down to ten men, Messi steps up to make it 3-3.

With Ramos off for an early showever, Carlo Ancelotti is withdrawing a striker in Benzema and brining on his compatriot Raphael Varane.

Barca then make a substitution of their own as Neymar is replaced by Pedro.

Want to see the incident which led to the Ramos red card and Messi’s subsequent penalty? You’re welcome:

Source: Qualitative Comps

Cracking hit by Alves, who cracks his shot off the post from 25 yards out. That deserved better.

Cesc Fabregas masks way for Alexis Sanchez. Barca need to win this more than Madrid. 12 minutes on the clock.

BARCELONA HAVE BEEN AWARDED THEIR SECOND PENALTY…

GOAL! Real Madrid 3-4 Barcelona (Lionel Messi)

Yet more talking points. Iniesta wriggles away from Daniel Carvajal and pokes the ball through the legs of Xabi Alonso, who then makes a slight but clumsy challenge.

The referee points to the spot for the third time and Messi bags himself a hat-trick in typically emphatic fashion.

Ancelotti throws on Alvaro Morato to join Isco as attacking reinforcements with Luka Modric withdrawn.

The clock strikes ninety minutes and we will have three more of additional time.

Full-time: Real Madrid 3-4 Barcelona

And that’s all she wrote. I don’t know about you but that was a thoroughly enjoyable 90 minutes of football. There were plenty of contentious decisions but Lionel Messi bags himself a hat-trick to keep Barcelona in the title race and take some pressure off Tata Martino.

Here’s how the table looks now:

Source: Sky Sports

That’s all from me this evening. Cheers for sticking around, you can watch all seven goals from tonight here.