Evening all, and welcome to the "curtain-raiser" for the "curtain-raiser"; it's Manchester United v Real Madrid!

Nixce approach play from Madrid, allowing Isco to play Vasquez in behind Jones ... who recovers well and averts the danger.

Rashford feeds Lingard and accelerates away, taking a man and creating space for a shot ... which comes quickly, Lingard leathering a rasper from 20 yards which flies just wide of the near post.

Bale escapes down the left and crosses for Benzema at the back post, where Jones arrives to smuggle the ball to safety.

A ball over the top into the right corner allows Vasquez in behind Jones, but his cross is tame and Carrick collects. immediately, United break, and Martial zones at Carvajal then clips a ball into the box looking for Rashford, running off Varane. But the defender does enough, and Madrid clear.

Bailly is in so quickly to take the ball off Benzema, ending a Madrid attack before it's even started.

Madrid win a free-kick left of centre, 35 yards out, and Kroos curls it in. Fosu-Mensah is up, though, and his header reaches Darmian who completes the clearance.

Lovely interplay down the left between Marcelo and Bale ends with the former crossing into the middle. Benzema can't get to the ball though, so flings himself to the floor to no avail.

Not a whole lot going on here.

The players "take on-board fluids", otherwise known as "have a drink"/.

Fellaini picks up possession just on the left of the box and with Martial and Rashford waiting in the middle, he drags a low cross behnd them. Of course he does.

Carrick intercepts a pass from Modric and immediately aims for Rashford over the top; the ball is on but he doesn't hit it right, and Nacho easily picks up the pieces.

Pereira sees space and nips around Kroos to move into it, but Carvajal covers well and quickly slides in to make the challenge.

Isco fells Fellaini, an amusing sight if nothing else.

United move the ball along the back-four and there's booing. I'm not sure why. In the meantime, Martial plays the ball in behind Carvajal for Longard, but Varane gets to it first.

United need to get Martial into the game; Martial needs Martial to be got into the game too, because a bad start to last season had him struggling for the remainder.

Marcelo lifts a ball over the top for Bale and it looks, briefly, like he's in. But United's back-four stepped up well, and eventually the linesman notices.

Marcelo gets a yard on Fosu-Mensah far too easily, and arcs in a low cross which Bailly has to slide at to intercept.

For Madrid, Ronaldo has 406 goals in 394 games. I have no idea how to comprehend the ridiculousness of that.

Lovely one-touch stuff between Bale and Benzema, poking, flicking and moving. But Fosu-Mensah sticks with it and swiftly unloads the former.

Isco thinks he's got a second on the ball, a notion of which Fellaini swiftly disabuses him.