Good afternoon and welcome to our live text coverage of the La Liga clash between table-topping Real Madrid and Malaga at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. The line-ups are in so we'll bring you those shortly...

REAL: Navas; Ramos, Varane, Marcelo, Nacho; Casemiro, Kroos, Modric; Benzema, Ronaldo, Vazquez

MALAGA: Kameni; Villanueva, Munoz, Juankar, Rosales; Fornals, Recio, Camacho, Penaranda; Castro, Juanpi

So what can we make of Real's starting XI? The big news is the return of Karim Benzema to lead the attack, with the Frenchman forming the central part of a three-pronged frontline. Cristiano Ronaldo lines up on the left and Lucas Vazquez on the right.

Real boss Zinedine Zidane has left Danilo out of his lineup, preferring Nacho Fernandez to the Brazilian. Midfielder maestro Isco has returned to match fitness but has been left on the bench as the La Liga leaders seek to arrest a run of two straight defeats.

Malaga manager Marcelo Romero, who has lost two matches out of two since taking charge, has a staggering number of players unavailable today - Sandro, Ricca, Kuzmanovic, Charles, Weligton and Miguel Torres are all injured, Kone and En-Nesyri are on Africa Cup of Nations duty and loanee Diego Llorente is ineligible against his parent club.

The visitors have had to perform surgery on their starting XI as a result of these absentees, but the return of Adalberto Penaranda from Watford has helped them bring some solidarity to the centre of the park. He lines up alongside Pablo Fornals, who is a key player in Malaga's engine room.

Recio and Juanpi are the other changes for Malaga, who head into the match on a run of five defeats in their last seven in all competitions. The 13th-placed side have also shipped 18 goals on the road this season, so Ronaldo, Benzema and co may see them as easy prey.

Having said that, Zidane's men have a slump of their own to arrest. Since their record-breaking run of 40 games without defeat came to an abrupt halt with a 2-1 loss at Sevilla, Real have gone down at home to Celta Vigo by the same scoreline in the Copa del Rey.

Nevertheless, they're still top of the pile in La Liga, heading into the match with a tenuous one-point lead over Sevilla and a game in hand. Today marks the perfect opportunity to cement their position as league leaders and return to winning ways.

Pre-match quotes from the two camps coming up...

ZIDANE: "You cannot win every game or play well always. Sometimes there are bad times you need to overcome and move on from. In my mind I can only see hard work ahead of us - I'm thinking things could be done better. What we have to do is concentrate more, but I'm not worried. We have to give 100%. Let's leave this situation behind us with a convincing display. There is always going to be pressure but all it does is make me grow stronger every day. I'm not afraid of pressure." (via realmadrid.com)

FORNALS: "Victory in Madrid? Why not? What better place to prove that we are capable of beating or at least making things difficult for any opponent, just like we did against Barca. They were having a bad day, whereas we were very organised and hard-working, so things went well for us. You can see on the pitch that we're trying to work better together, with a more aggressive level of pressure." (via malagafc.com)

They were the words of Malaga's Pablo Fornals who appears confident ahead of the match. Although his team held Barcelona to a draw at the Nou Camp in November, Real promise to be a very different proposition.

Real have a solid track record of bouncing back under Zidane. Cast you mind back to the way they obliterated Real Betis 6-1 on the road following a run of consecutive draws in the autumn.

PREDICTION: I'm expecting today to be a similar story with the hosts comfortably winning 3-0. Don't be surprised to see Ronaldo back amongst the goals today.

The two teams are on the pitch now, in front of a packed Bernabeu. The crowd is exuding expectation, demanding a performance from their team off the back of consecutive defeats. How will Malaga cope with that pressure?

KICK OFF: We are underway at the Bernabeu. Real Madrid go straight on the attack through Ronaldo on the left, but Rosales anticipates his run and forces the ball out for a goalkick.

Vazquez finds space on the left hand side but his delivery is lacking, ending up safely in the arms of Kameni courtesy of a deflection off Juankar. There are signs of nerves among the Malaga players. Can they weather this early storm?

The visitors have grown into the game these last few minutes and are pressing high. Rosales surges down the flank and floats a cross towards Penaranda, but the danger is cleared before it can reach his teammate. Good build-up play from Romero's men.

Bold stuff from Malaga as they press forward again through Juanpi, but Ramos slides in and steals the ball from his feet. Great interception from the Real skipper. Real return to the front foot moments later as Vazquez and Nacho link up well, but the latter's cross is cut out by Villanueva.

Half-chance for Real as Vazquez's dangerous ball from the right-hand side finds the head of Benzema, but the Frenchman's effort bounces off the turf and ends up rebounding over the crossbar. That's as close of the home side have come but they're yet to test Kameni in the Malaga goal.

It's Malaga's turn to threaten as Penaranda lets fly. His shot is blocked and there's a nervy moment for the hosts when Fornals picks up the rebound, but he also fails to get a shot away. Real recover and seek to stage a break at the other end.

MISS! It's wasteful play from Benzema, who gets himself in the right position in front of goal to reach Vazquez's curling delivery, but he attempts a fancy flick instead of simply burying it, and the ball drifts wide!

SAVE! Navas has come under fire for his recent performances but he saved Real's skin there. Castro twists and turns on his way towards goal and lets fly, his effort taking a deflection before Navas gets his body in the way. He's unable to keep hold off it, but the loose ball is soon scrambled away. Boos ring out through the stadium as Real continue to struggle.

Real start asking a few questions of their opponents as Vazquez hoists a cross into the danger zone, forcing Kameni to rush off his line to claim. Better from the hosts, but it's Malaga who have edged the early stages of this contest - Castro and Juanpi have caused Real all kinds of problems.

SAVE! Vazquez has been Real's most dangerous player and he's just forced Kameni into a save at his near post. The Spaniard shrugs off a challenge from Juankar before drilling the ball goalwards - the Malaga stopper parries and his defence clears its lines. Malaga's attempt to hit their opponents on the break collapses as Penaranda is dispossessed.

SUBSTITUTION: There's a blow for Real as Marcelo hobbles off injured. Danilo replaces him but Zidane is forced to reshuffle the pack and shift Nacho to the left-back position.

It's been an open game with chances at both ends - not the one-way traffic towards the Malaga goal we were anticipating. But Real have just come close courtesy of a Benzema volley from a Ronaldo cross, the France international missing the top corner by a foot or so.

Sergio Ramos is a fortunate man as the referee failed to spot him strike his marker in the throat while up for a corner. The ball comes in and almost falls kindly for Vazquez, but he cannot stop it from going out for a goalkick.

It's a goal for Sergio Ramos - that should settle Real Madrid down. Toni Kroos curled in a corner and the Real skipper found acres of space in the box to meet in with a bullet header. Kameni was nowhere to be found and the visitors' marking was woeful, but Real won't care one jot!

BOOKINGS The yellow cards come out in force in the wake of Real's opener. First Casimiro goes into the book for a bone-crunching challenge on Fornals, before Juankar joins him on a caution for cynically hacking Vasquez. That's one booking apiece.

It's two goals for Ramos and two assists for Kroos as Real double their advantage before the break. This one came from a free kick just outside the area. Once again the Malaga marking is all over the place, allowing Kroos to aim for a pocket of space in the box. Ramos beats the offside flag to slide home from close range.

Just one minute of stoppage time to play here.

It's half time in this La Liga contest and Real lead 2-0, but it could easily have been more than that as the hosts hit the crossbar just before the whistle went. It was Benzema with the delivery but Villanueva got the final touch, almost turning the ball into his own net!

A two-goal cushion makes things relatively comfortable for Zidane's side, although that scoreline doesn't tell the full story. Malaga started boldly and took the game to their opponents, almost drawing first blood through Castro early on and coming close on a number of other occasions.

However, there was always the danger that Real would go on to dominate if they managed to weather the early storm, and that's exactly what's happened. Vazquez has been lethal for them, causing the visitors all kinds of problems from open play, but it's Kroos's efficiency from set pieces - and Malaga's inefficiency at defending them - that has been their undoing.

KICK OFF: We're back underway in this La Liga contest. Will it be plain sailing for Real, or does this tale have a surprise twist at the end? Stay tuned to find out.

Real have set their stall out to press high in this second half, but they'll have to wait a moment to continue banging on the door as Juankar and Camacho are both down needing treatment.

Real attempt to stage another attack through a Kroos free kick but it goes begging as Ronaldo drifts into an offside position. They've forced Malaga to sit very deep, with Penaranda dropping too far back to cause the home side's centre-back pairing of Ramos and Varane any issues - it's easy street for them at the moment.

The home side have switched to a counter-attacking style, with Modric exploiting a gap in the middle by threading a ball through to Ronaldo. Mikel beats the Portuguese to it and clears his lines. Ronaldo hasn't had the best of afternoons by his own high standards. He looks marginally short of full fitness, as does Benzema.

Malaga's approach to the second half as been disappointing. After asking a few questions of Real in the first period, they're sitting deeper and deeper - almost as if they've accepted the defeat and are concerned about damage limitation!

The visitors show a modicum of ambition in the final third as Penaranda makes space in the penalty area and pulls the trigger. He doesn't make much of a connection and his effort skitters into the path of Varane, who clears convincingly.

Just as Malaga were looking down and out, they go and pull one back through Juanpi! Castro does well to dance past two defenders, but his shot is parried by Navas. However, the Real keeper can only deflect it into the path of Juanpi in front of goal, and he makes the net ripple from close range. Game on!

SUBSTITUTION: Buoyed by that goal, Malaga make a change, throwing on Jony for Castro. Will a fresh pair of legs help them bag an unlikely equaliser? Anything is possible given the pressure Real are under from their own supporters.

Real know they need another goal to make this game safe, and they've just gone in search of one with Ronaldo seeking to release Vazquez, but Villanueva tracks back and makes the interception. Confident defending from the visitors.

LET-OFF! There's a HUGE let-off for Malaga goalkeeper Kameni, whose clearance falls straight into the path of Ronaldo. The Portuguese bears down on goal and lobs the stopper, but Kameni races back and clears off the line. The Cameroonian makes amends moments later when he pulls off a superb save to deny Ronaldo again, this time from the edge of the box.

OFF THE POST! It hasn't been Ronaldo's afternoon but he almost produced a moment of magic there, twisting and turning on the right-hand side before unleashing a half-volley which rattles the Malaga post. That would have killed the contest off, but Malaga are very much still in this as legs start to tire across the park.

SUBSTITUTIONS: Both managers are making changes for the dying embers - Kovacic has replaced Modric for Real and Penaranda makes way for Michael Santos for the visitors. The hosts make a further switch moments later, swapping Benzema for Morata up front.

One of Santos's first contributions is a cynical challenge to say the least. He earns a yellow card for what can only be described as a potential leg-breaker. Lenient if you ask me.

CHANCE! Late pressure from Real as they attempt to force this one over the line. Kroos's corner is cleared at the near post but the German international regains possession and hoists the ball back into the box. Ronaldo meets it with a header but fails to hit the target, summing up his afternoon in the process.

Four minutes off stoppage time for Malaga to find an equaliser, but they'll have to gain possession of the ball to have any chance of that! Real aren't giving them an inch in the closing stages.

Real Madrid return to winning ways courtesy of a two-goal victory over a spirited Malaga side.They were worthy victors but didn't have it all their own way. The visitors deserve credit for making Real work for the three points.

A double from Real captain Sergo Ramos - along with the inability to defend set pieces - was Malaga's undoing. Juanpi's second-half strike gave the underdogs a fighting chance, but it was ultimately no more than a consolation.

The result gives Real a four-point buffer over Sevilla at the top of the table and puts their title bid firmly back on track following that wobble against their closest rivals in their last league outing.

That's all we have time for here but stick with Sports Mole for coverage of all of the weekend's biggest games. Many thanks for reading!