Article body analysed
Real Madrid host Elche in La Liga Alvaro Arbeloa's side go into game four points behind leaders Barcelona Barca play Sevilla on Sunday Visitors are one point above bottom three Marissa Thomas Read Madrid 0-0 Elche Elizabeth Conway BBC Sport Spanish football reporter You wouldn't believe the team fighting to win La Liga were playing against the team fighting to stay in La Liga at the moment. Not much between the two sides. Real Madrid 0-0 Elche Federico Valverde's pass to Vinicius Jr on the edge of the box is cut out. Real Madrid are yet to trouble Elche, who are two points above the relegation zone. Real Madrid 0-0 Elche Fran Garcia drives towards the Elche box but a brilliant tackle from Buba Sangare stops him in his tracks. Real Madrid 0-0 Elche Aurelien Tchouameni curls an effort wide of the post as Real Madrid look to open the scoring. Real Madrid 0-0 Elche Dean Huijsen plays a ball over the top towards Vinicius Jr but he in unable to get on the end of it. Read Madrid 0-0 Elche Elizabeth Conway BBC Sport Spanish football reporter Vinicius Jnr hasn't not found the back of the net in his last three appearances. It might not sound like much, but without Mbappé, Rodrygo and Bellingham available, he'll be keen to get back to his goalscoring ways. Real Madrid 0-0 Elche Andre Silva heads a shot against the side netting from German Valera's cross. The offside flag would have been raised if it had gone in. Real Madrid 0-0 Elche It's been a steady start to the game so far. Elche has had 60% of the possession in the opening stages. Real Madrid 0-0 Elche Elizabeth Conway BBC Sport Spanish football reporter Real Madrid will be bursting with confidence after their dominant
display against Manchester City on Wednesday and will be keen to keep the momentum going tonight. Alvaro
Arbeloa’s tenure so far has been defined by inconsistency so this match is an ideal
opportunity to build on the positives from midweek and string together
two solid performances. Real Madrid 0-0 Elche Injured duo Kylian Mbappe and David Alaba are watching their team in the stands. Read Madrid 0-0 Elche Elizabeth Conway BBC Sport Spanish football reporter The last time Real played against Elche in November, it was a 2-2 draw under Xabi Alonso. This time around, Arbeloa will want to ensure a positive result to keep their title hopes within reach. Real Madrid 0-0 Elche There is a minutes silence to mark the passing of Vicente Paniagua, one of the great legends of Real Madrid and European basketball, who died last week. After that, we are under way at Estadio Bernabeu. Real Madrid v Elche (20: 00 GMT) Real Madrid have earned 63 points after 27 games in La Liga this season and they have gone on to win the league title in 10 of the previous 15 seasons in which they have had 63 or more points at this stage of the campaign, including in the last three: 2016-17, 2021-22 and 2023-24 (counting three points for a win). Can they do the same again this time around? Thumbs up for Real Madrid to win the league, thumbs down for Barcelona. Read Madrid v Elche (20: 00 GMT) Elizabeth Conway BBC Sport Spanish football reporter Keep an eye on Thiago Pitarch. He’s
just 18 and has played six games with four starts for Real Madrid, including against Manchester City on Wednesday. Arbeloa coached him
in the Castilla, Real Madrid’s youth set-up and he’s been the standout name of
the season in terms of youth players. Read Madrid v Elche (20: 00 GMT) Elizabeth Conway BBC Sport Spanish football reporter Carvajal hasn't started for Real Madrid since they played against Osasuna on the 21st February. Since both Carvajal and Trent Alexander- Arnold have been available,
Arbeloa has favoured the former Liverpool-right-back to start. But today, perhaps
to rest Trent ahead of Tuesday’s Champions league second leg, Carvajal gets the
start. Real Madrid v Elche (20: 00 GMT) At home, Real Madrid are unbeaten in all 24 of their La Liga games against Elche (W20 D4). This is their second-longest unbeaten run against a single opponent at home in the competition, after Las Palmas (36 games – W31 D5). Real Madrid v Elche (20: 00 GMT) Elche have not won any of their last 10 La Liga matches (D4 L6) and are one of three teams in the big five European leagues who are yet to win away from home this season, along with Pisa and Wolverhampton Wanderers. Real Madrid v Elche (20: 00 GMT) Real Madrid would move one point behind leaders Barcelona if they beat Elche tonight. After the weekend has finished, both teams will have just 10 league games left to play. Real Madrid v Elche (20: 00 GMT) Real Madrid XI: Courtois, Carvajal, Rudiger, Huijsen, Fran Garcia, Valverde, Thiago, Tchouameni, Camavinga, Brahim, Vinicius Jr. Subs: Lunin, Sergio Mestre, Trent, Guler, Gonzalo Garcia, Aguado, Angel, Palacios, Yanez. Elche XI: Dituro, Petrot, Affengruber, Chust, Sangare, Redondo, Febas, Cepeda, Neto, Valera, Silva. Subs: Iturbe, Pena, Pedrosa, Bigas, Villar, Diangana, Aguado, Santiago, Rodriguez, Josan, Mir, Morente. Hello and welcome to our live text coverage of Real Madrid against Elche. Let's get started. Arda Guler has scored four goals for Real Madrid this season Arda Guler scored from inside his own half as Real Madrid beat Elche 4-1 to move within a point of La Liga leaders Barcelona. Antonio Rudiger opened the scoring before Federico Valverde continued his rich vein of form with another stunning goal five minutes later. Dean Huijsen added Real's third midway through the second half before substitute Manuel Angel converted a low cross into his own net to hand Elche a late consolation. But the goal of the night came from Turkey international Guler, who lobbed Elche goalkeeper Matias Dituro from near the centre circle. "We need to get a frame for it, " manager Alvaro Arbeloa said of Guler's goal. "It's extraordinary, wonderful. I saw everyone gasping in amazement, myself included. It was worth paying for one, two or three tickets to see what he did. " After the high of sweeping Manchester City aside 3-0 in their Champions League last-16 first leg on Wednesday, Real made a slow start against an Elche side winless in 10 games. The hosts created little for more than half an hour and were left frustrated when Fran Garcia and Aurelien Tchouameni had penalty appeals turned down. But when a Valverde free-kick was parried back into danger and Rudiger volleyed home the 39th-minute opener, Los Blancos began to play with greater fluidity. Five minutes later Valverde curled a strike into the top corner from the edge of the penalty area for his fifth goal in three games, following a crucial stoppage-time winner against Celta Vigo last weekend and his superb midweek hat-trick against City. Brahim Diaz should have scored when he ran through on goal minutes into the second half, but he blazed over with only Elche goalkeeper Matias Dituro to beat. Huijsen made the result comfortable in the 66th minute when he headed in a cross from 18-year-old substitute Daniel Yanez. After Angel's late own-goal, there was still time for Guler to spot Dituro off his goal-line and send an audacious lob into the back of the net. Kylian Mbappe remained absent with a knee injury, but manager Alvaro Arbeloa said he is confident the France striker will return for Tuesday's trip to Manchester. After losing two of their past three league games, Real Madrid move one point behind table toppers Barcelona having played one game more. The defending champions will re-establish a four-point buffer if they beat Sevilla on Sunday (15: 15 GMT). Real's next La Liga outing is against city rivals Atletico Madrid at the Bernabeu on Sunday, 22 March (20: 00). Elche, now winless in 11 league games, remain 17th in the table, one point above the relegation zone. They will drop to 18th if Mallorca defeat Espanyol on Sunday (13: 00). Comments can not be loaded To load Comments you need to enable Java Script in your browser Last Updated 14th March 2026 at 21: 58 Please Note: All times UK. Tables are subject to change. The BBC is not responsible for any changes that may be made. Manager: Álvaro Arbeloa Formation: 4 - 4 - 2 Manager: Eder Sarabia Formation: 5 - 3 - 2 Manager: Álvaro Arbeloa Formation: 4 - 4 - 2 Manager: Eder Sarabia Formation: 5 - 3 - 2 Spanish La Liga All competitions All competitions All competitions Copyright © 2026 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.