Real Madrid hosts Malaga chasing third straight win at the Bernabeu

Two for two, and the goals are really starting to flow. Real Madrid heads into the third Sunday of LaLiga with a smile on its face, and this weekend it hosts Malaga at the Santiago Bernabeu with one clear idea: keep the perfect record going without dropping a single point so far this season.

Jose Mourinho's side hasn't offered any surprises so far, quite the opposite. It opened with a 4-0 rout of Real Sociedad on matchday one, then survived a scare on the road against Espanyol, winning 1-2 thanks to a late, saving goal from Carlos Espi in the final minute. Two games, two wins, and a feeling that keeps growing week after week: the trident of Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior is barely warming up and already starting to show its teeth.

Standing in the way will be a Malaga side that still hasn't tasted victory in this LaLiga campaign. It opened with a 2-0 loss to Atletico Madrid at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano and then drew 1-1 with Deportivo La Coruna. Grabbing anything at the Bernabeu against a Madrid side on this kind of run looks more like a long shot than a realistic goal, though soccer never lacks someone willing to write the exception to the rule.

How they arrive and the probable lineups

Mourinho could stick with much of the lineup that came through in Cornella to rescue all three points. The plan is for Thibaut Courtois to start between the posts, with a back line made up of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Dean Huijsen, Ibrahima Konate and Marc Cucurella. In midfield, Federico Valverde, Bernardo Silva and Arda Guler would be tasked with linking play to the attacking trio of Bellingham, Vinicius and Mbappe.

On the visitors' side, Malaga would likely field Alfonso Herrero in goal, Carlos Puga, Angel Recio, Einar Galilea and Rafael Garrido across the back, Juan Cruz, Izan Merino, Dani Lorenzo and Joaquin Munoz in midfield, and Carlos Dotor alongside Carlos Ruiz Rubio up top, looking for any spark that might let them cause damage despite the odds stacked against them.

The head-to-head history doesn't leave much room to dream of an upset either: across 32 previous meetings, Real Madrid has won 22, Malaga just 4, with 6 draws. A gap that confirms what's already clear before the ball even gets rolling.

The match is set for Sunday, August 30 at the Santiago Bernabeu, kicking off at 9:00 am Mexico City time, 11:00 am for Ecuador, Colombia and Peru, 1:00 pm Eastern time and Chile time, and 2:00 pm in Argentina and Uruguay. For Madrid, the goal is simple: keep the perfect record intact and keep showing that its attack, led by Bellingham, Mbappe and Vinicius, can become a nightmare for any opponent all season long.