Ouch. Sergio Ramos takes a right old whack as he blocks a shot from Espanyol's Hernan Perez - who claims a handball by the Real captain. Television replays show it hit hand and head; I'm not sure you could call it a deliberate handball.

A minute's applause from the home fans for Espanyol's former captain Daniel Jarque, who died from a heart attack, aged just 26, in 2009. Jarque wore the number 21 shirt, and so the Espanyol fans applaud in the 21st minute of every home game.

Casemiro takes his place on the bench, ice pack strapped to his calf. Zidane will be hoping that the injury is not too serious, with a La Liga home game against Villarreal to come on Wednesday.

Real Madrid ride that little spell of Espanyol pressure, but they have an injury problem. Midfielder Casemiro is sitting on the turf, and has been struggling for the last few minutes. He is going to have to come off here. He hobbles to the touchline, after a slight delay while Zinedine Zidane figures out who to bring on - it's Toni Kroos.

A poor clearance from Pepe almost gifts Espanyol an opener. The ball falls for Leo Baptistao, who probably should score. Give credit to goalkeeper Kiko Casilla, though, who blocks well with his legs.

Sergio Ramos in heavily involved in the early stages. The centre-back, already booked, gets forward to power a header just wide from a corner. Ramos scored in a similar fashion as Osasuna were beaten 5-2 last weekend.

Image source, AFP

Lucas Vazquez, asked to shoulder some of Real Madrid's attacking burden with Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale out, cuts in from the right past Victor Sanchez. His shot is deflected across goal and wide.

There's a problem, meanwhile, for Espanyol winger Pablo Piatti, who seems to have pulled up with a muscle injury.

An early booking for Sergio Ramos. The Real captain takes a loose touch and goes sliding into a challenge on Leo Baptistao. You've got as long time to go without another booking, Sergio...

Real Madrid, in their purple change strip, get us going, seeking a 16th successive La Liga victory. Espanyol are in blue and white stripes.

One change for Espanyol from the team who drew 1-1 at Real Sociedad last weekend; Papa Diop replaces Javi Fuego in midfield. On the bench for Espanyol; Jose Antonio Reyes, now 33, and once of Arsenal.

Espanyol XI: Diego Lopez; J Lopez, David Lopez, O Duarte, Sanchez; Perez, Diop, Roca, Piatti; Leo Baptistao, Gerard.

With no Bale and no Ronaldo, Zidane has to juggle his forward line. Marco Asensio, a scorer in the 3-0 victory at Real Sociedad on La Liga's opening weekend, starts in atack with Karim Benzema and Lucas Vazquez. James Rodriguez gets his first start of the season, having set up the winner against Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League in midweek.

Real Madrid XI: Casilla; Carvajal, Pepe, Ramos, Marcelo; Modric, Casemiro, Rodriguez; Lucas, Benzema, Asensio.

Image source, Rex Features

Flores will not have to face Cristiano Ronaldo or Gareth Bale this evening. Ronaldo has flu, while, Bale picked up a hip problem during Wednesday's 2-1 Champions League victory over Sporting Lisbon. With that, let's get into the team news...

Image source, Reuters

Espanyol have changed manager since that 6-0 double; the man in charge now is Quique Flores, fresh from being bundled through the revolving doors at Watford.

Image source, Getty Images

...Ronaldo only managed a hat-trick in the return fixture at the Bernabeu in January. But Real Madrid won 6-0 again.

Image source, Getty Images

Take last season, for example. At the Estadi Cornelia-El Prat last September, Cristiano Ronaldo scored five times as Real Madrid won 6-0...

Our final European live text commentary of the day comes from Barcelona. Espanyol v Real Madrid is a fixture that traditionally means goals. Unfortunately for Espanyol, most of those goals have gone to Real Madrid.

That was a terrific contest in Serie A, but there is little time to dwell on it. Instead, we're about to switch our focus to La Liga...

So here are the standings; Roma still have to play this weekend, and their game at Fiorentina kicks off in around half-an-hour.

Image source, BBC Sport

The most significant consequence of Inter's victory is that it denies Juventus top spot in Serie A. Napoli, 3-1 winners over Bologna last night, retain first place.

Full credit, though, to Inter for the positive way they approached the game, and for the way they responded after going a goal down against the run of play. Why haven't they been playing like that all season?