Tonight’s Champions League semi-final first leg at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu sees Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid facing off for a fourth consecutive year in the competition — with Real aiming to confirm their dominance in the capital and Atletico looking to finally get over the final barrier of Diego Simeone’s time in charge.

Barcelona must win tonight’s Clasico at Real Madrid or Luis Enrique’s final season in charge at the Catalan club has the potential to go very sour.

Barcelona and Real Madrid both won over the weekend but received mixed fitness news ahead of their return to Champions League action this week — while Arsenal’s opponents Bayern Munich continued their impressive form.

Real Madrid galactico Gareth Bale still remembers clearly waiting and waiting for the ball to come down, so he could head in the clinching goal in the 2014 Champions League final.

Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo returns to his old city tonight, for the Champions League semi-final first leg at Manchester City, with a feeling he is coming towards another crucial moment in his career.

“If you look at games like Atletico Madrid against PSV Eindhoven, you can see the difference in quality with Juventus, who are knocked out already,” lamented Bayern Munich president Karl-Heinz Rummenigge last month, after his club had eliminated fellow European giants Juve in the Champions League last 16.

Even before the final whistle had gone in last Wednesday’s Champions League quarter-final first leg at Wolfsburg, talk of another historic second leg comeback by Real Madrid had begun.

Last week, many around Real Madrid were claiming that the selection of their youth talent was their best hope of getting something from this season.

Atletico Madrid’s 1-0 win at Real Madrid on Saturday has reopened an internal Estadio Santiago Bernabeu debate which could end badly for Blancos superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, coach Zinedine Zidane and even president Florentino Perez.

Unlike their Premier League counterparts, Spain-based players usually have their feet up around this time. But a shortened La Liga winter break this year means everything is speeding up and in places hurtling out of control.

As the Spain national football squad arrived at the team hotel in Alicante ahead of Friday evening’s friendly against England, there were cheers for each of the players stepping off the bus.

“It’s a dream come true. I love Real Madrid, they’re my whole family’s favourite team. I’m very grateful for the welcome given to us by the president. In Syria, we dreamed of seeing a Real Madrid match, and now that’s going to come true.”

La Liga is returning, a little later than first expected, with plenty of new and old questions to be resolved.

Rafa Benitez emotionally hailed the “closing of a circle” as he returned to the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu yesterday as first team coach - but the former Los Blancos youth team player and reserve trainer now has to quickly show that he can handle his dream job as Real Madrid first team coach.

Real Madrid 1 Juventus 1 (Agg 2-3): Alvaro Morata was again the hero as a 1-1 draw at Real Madrid in last night’s Champions League semi-final second leg at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu sent Juventus through to the competition’s final.

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti has called on his team to make history in tonight’s Champions League semi-final second leg at home to Juventus at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.

REAL MADRID 1 ATLETICO MADRID 0: Holders Real Madrid reached for the Champions League last four by beating neighbours Atletico Madrid 1-0 in last night’s super tense quarter-final second leg at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.

Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid drew 0-0 in a tight and tense Champions League quarter-final first leg at the Estadio Vicente Calderon on Tuesday night.

While neither coach will admit it, both teams will be out for revenge when Atletico Madrid host Real Madrid in tonight’s Champions League quarter-final first leg at the Estadio Vicente Calderon.

A snap reading of Cristiano Ronaldo’s five-goal haul as Real Madrid hammered Granada 5-1 in La Liga yesterday afternoon was that Los Blancos’ king is back.

Ambiguous reactions in Spain to Real Betis fan chants, which caused dismay outside the country, have again shown how the idea of collective responsibility is missing at most La Liga clubs.

Speaking at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday, after his Real Sociedad team were beaten 4-1 by Real Madrid, David Moyes did not seem too disappointed with the result, writes Dermot Corrigan.

La Liga: This January’s transfer window has been a relatively quiet affair, especially in Spain. But one big name has made a huge, and not widely expected, impact since switching clubs earlier this month.

The acclamation for Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti has been loud and unanimous through recent weeks, with most Blancos directors, fans, players and pundits conveniently forgetting their regular misgivings about the Italian throughout an ultimately historic 12 months.

The death of a Deportivo La Coruna ‘ultra’ in fighting before last Sunday’s La Liga match at Atletico Madrid has led to attempts at expelling all such radical ‘supporters’ from the Spanish game.

The Real Madrid propaganda machine cranked back into action this week, when Uefa president Michel Platini had the temerity to suggest Blancos superstar Cristiano Ronaldo was not necessarily the most deserving winner of the 2014 Ballon D’Or.

While Real Madrid’s ‘BBC’ strikeforce of Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo were all on the scoresheet in Saturday’s 5-1 La Liga win over Rayo Vallecano, the man of the match at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu was Blancos midfielder Toni Kroos.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009, and Marca’s editors are sure they are onto a winner.

Real Madrid’s 2014/15 season so far has been full of drama and pandemonium, but the club’s AGM yesterday was as serene as could be for club president Florentino Perez.

Saturday began with the Spanish press full of tributes to Real Madrid club captain Iker Casillas on completing 15 years as a first-team player at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu — with over 700 games for the club, and an enviable trophy haul including three Champions Leagues, five La Liga titles and two Copas del Rey.

"Goals change games," as all the best football analysts know. But Sergio Ramos’s 93rd-minute header for Real Madrid in Saturday’s Champions League final changed so much more.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL:

A Villarreal fan throwing a banana at Barcelona’s Dani Alves last weekend may have – inadvertently – helped the battle against a deeply-rooted problem of racism in Spanish football.

Anyone expecting a feast of attacking football in tonight’s Champions League semi-final first leg between Atletico Madrid and Chelsea will be disappointed, says Atletico midfielder Gabi Fernandez.