Real should be ahead. Simple as that. Marcelo gets around the back of the Granada defence on the left and chips a cross into the six-yard box where Alvaro Arbeloa is waiting unmarked in front of goal, but he somehow flicks his shot past the post. If any further evidence was needed, that shows exactly why Arbeloa is a right-back.

Luka Modric is sitting deeper in the Real Madrid midfield but with the amount of space Granada are relinquishing in front of their massed defence on the edge of their own box it is giving the Croatian license to drive forward. He does just that and tries a shot but it is blocked. Soon after, Ronaldo is caught a yard offside from a pass forward. If he had held his run a second longer, he would have been away.

Gareth Bale wins Real a corner with a shot from range that takes a deflection. From the resulting set-play, Karim Benzema rises and meets it but does not get enough contact and the ball dribbles wide. Real have been in control of the game in the early stages but they have only tested Oier once so far.

Granada's first attack almost brings them the opening goal. Real sloppily give the ball away near halfway and it allows Robert Ibanez to drive forward and fire a low shot just past the far post. That would have put the cat amongst the pigeons.

Image source, AFP

Real are getting closer. Ronaldo throws in a couple of trademark step-overs to buy him a yard on Dimitri Foulquier before unleashing a low shot from an angle that flies into the side-netting.

Oh, almost the opening goal for Gareth Bale as a hopeful chip into the box drops between the hesitant Granada keeper and defender Juan Carlos, allowing the Welshman to nip in. Unfortunately for Real, Bale can only steer his first-time shot over the goal.

The first shot of the day goes to Real and Karim Benzema, who volleys a Toni Kroos cross to the back post on target but not with the sufficient power to beat Oier.

As you'd expect, Granada have barely touched the ball. Toni Kroos is fouled and chips a free-kick forward for Gareth Bale but away keeper Oier slides out to claim the ball at the forward's feet.

Now it is Karim Benzema's turn to be ruled offside from another Real attack. He has no excuse, either. He was looking right along the line when Luka Modric chipped his pass forward.

More pain for Ronaldo - this time of a physical nature - as he takes one in the face in trying to control on the edge of the Granada box. To rub salt in the wound he is also adjudged to be offside. Just take it on the chin, Cristiano. Oh, you have.

Ronaldo has his first dart into the Granada half and is frustrated as an away defender gets in front of him, causing him to lose control of the ball. The Real forward thinks he was body-checked, but the referee doesn't agree.

The visitors get the match under way.

The teams are on their way out at the Bernabeu. Once the formalities are complete, we'll have the first game of the day up and running.

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Who needs defensive midfielders? As expected, James Rodriguez returns for Real to re-form the feared attacking quartet with Ronaldo, Bale and Benzema. Behind them are Luka Modric and Toni Kroos. Not your archetypal foot-in battlers, but then Real probably expect to have about 75% of possession. At the back, Rafael Varane comes in for the injured Pepe.

Real Madrid: Casillas, Marcelo, Arbeloa, Varane, Ramos, Kroos, Modric, James, Bale, Ronaldo, Benzema.

Granada: Oier, Foulquier, Babin, Mainz, Juan Carlos, Iturra, Fran Rico, Robert Ibanez, Rochina, Candeias, El Arabi.

Image source, Reuters

Real's hopes of chasing down Barcelona over the remaining 10 league games of this season will be boosted by the return of one of their chief Galacticos - Colombian forward James Rodriguez, who will make his first appearance since February, having recovered from a broken bone in his foot.

However, there is undoubtedly going to be yet more focus on Rodriguez's attacking colleagues - in particular Cristiano Ronaldo, who has only (yes, only) scored 10 goals in his last 15 club games, making him seem practically human, and Gareth Bale, of whom big things will be demanded by critical home fans following his goal-scoring exploits for Wales in the international break.

Image source, AFP

All is not lost, though, for the Avengers of football. A home win today over lowly Granada and they will reduce the gap between themselves and Barcelona to one point ahead of the league-leaders tricky trip to Celta Vigo later in the day.

And a win today is the least you would expect from Carlo Ancelotti's men against a side who are 41 points and 17 places below them in the table and whom they put four unanswered goals past back in November.

However, if they do get beat you've got to hope that Gareth Bale hasn't parked his car anywhere public.

Image source, AFP

Three losses in five games, defeat to their fiercest rivals, top spot relinquished, the star player suffering a rare dip in form (by his own high standards), and a record signing who is getting hammered by his own fans. It is fair to say that Real Madrid's season took something of a turn for the worst in March.

It is all a far cry from the turn of the year, when they were on a Spanish record 22-game winning run, having just won the Club World Cup as part of a quest for four trophies this season. With the Copa del Ray gone, city rivals Atletico standing in the way of them reclaiming the Champions League and Barcelona currently holding a four-point lead in La Liga, they could well end up with an unexpected abundance of unused Brasso over the summer.