It could have been five for Real there, as Isco worked some space in the penalty area, but the angle was tight, and his shot was deflected wide for a corner that came to nothing.

Eibar's heaviest defeat of the season so far came when they were beaten 4-0 at Barcelona on 6 March, although they did concede more goals in losing 5-2 at Athletic Bilbao in January.

At the other end, Real keeper Kiko Casilla gets a chance to show off, diving to his left to beat out a header from Aleksandar Pantic after Eibar win a corner. A chance for the visitors, who have been monumentally hopeless in this first half. Ivan Ramis is carrying on, by the way, following his knock a couple of minutes ago.

Eibar defender Ivan Ramis goes flying into a challenge with Jese and is left groggy after smacking his head on the turf as he falls. James Rodriguez curls the resulting free-kick over the bar from the right edge of the penalty area.

Postpublished at 35 mins

35 mins

Real Madrid 3-0 Eibar

Casemiro, who I thought had a great game for Real in last Sunday's El Clasico, goes piling into Eibar midfielder Gonzalo Escalante with a challenge that was so late, it's tempting to wonder if he misread the timetable...

The play has slowed a little here - so let me tell you about horses for a moment. It's the Grand National today at Aintree, in Liverpool - the one horse race of the year that even my mum has a bet on. We've got it covered via a live text commentary on the site.

Gareth Bale, left on the bench today to keep him fresh for Tuesday's crucial Champions League quarter-final second leg against Wolfsburg, watches on. What would he give to be involved in this? Real could score a bagful here if they wanted to.

Eibar have won a corner. I can now tell you that their attacking set-pieces are no better than their offside trap.

That goal, by the way, puts Ronaldo four clear of Barcelona's Luis Suarez in the race for the Pichichi.

There's a bit of a worry here for Zinedine Zidane, though, as Real centre-back Nacho Fernandez falls awkwardly and needs treatment on his right ankle.

Real Madrid have won five in a row in La Liga since they were beaten at home by neighbours Atletico on 27 February. Yet few expect them to make up a seven-point gap on leaders Barcelona in seven games. They will move up to second if they avoid defeat today (which they certainly should do on the evidence of a very comfortable first 15 minutes), but Atletico can regain that spot when they visit Espanyol in the 17:15 BST kick-off.

Dani Carvajal, given the nod at right-back by Zinedine Zidane today, gives away possession with a hopelessly ambitious crossfield pass inside his own half. Eibar midfielder Keko, with a chance to run at goal, ends up blasting a mile over the bar from about 30 yards out. They don't look very high on confidence, the visitors.

Eibar, playing only their second season in Spain's top flight, were sixth in La Liga after beating Granada 5-1 on 18 January, but have gathered five points from 11 matches since.

They're under pressure here; James Rodriguez crosses from the right to an unmarked Cristiano Ronaldo, whose header is well off target. A surprisingly iffy finish by La Liga's leading scorer there.

It's a sunny day in Madrid. We're off, with the home side in white, and Eibar in claret and blue stripes.

A quick run through today's four La Liga matches before kick-off: Granada, just above the relegation zone, drew 0-0 with Malaga last night.

Real Madrid v Eibar (15:00 BST)

Espanyol v Atletico Madrid (17:15 BST)

Real Sociedad v Barcelona (19:30 BST)

Real Betis v Levante (21:05 BST)

Perhaps the most significant of Eibar's four changes is the dropping of 18-goal top scorer Borja Baston to the bench. Borja, on a season's loan from Atletico Madrid, was in terrific form earlier in the season, but has scored just once in his last eight games, so Sergi Enrich gets a chance in attack instead.

The visitors are without goalkeeper Jaime and defender Borja Ekisa through injury, while defender Mauro dos Santos is suspended.  

Eibar: Riesgo; Capa, Echaide, Ramis, Luna; Escalante, Garcia; Keko, Jota, Gonzalez; Enrich

Image source, Getty Images

Fans of English football may be interested to see a couple of familiar names in Eibar's line-up. Centre-back Ivan Ramis had two-and-a-half injury-hit years at Wigan Athletic, while attacking midfielder Jota is on an 18-month loan from Brentford, who he helped to the Championship play-offs last season. Here's the proof - a picture of Jota taking on Lee Tomlin.

Eibar really are on the crest of a slump at the moment; just two points from their last seven matches, and one win in 11. Jose Luis Mendilibar's side, on 38 points, probably have enough in hand to avoid getting sucked into a relegation battle, but they are hardly primed to cause an upset today. So it seems, anyhow.