Hello there! I'm Shane and thanks for joining our live text commentary as Celta Vigo travel to the home of Real Madrid hoping to end the Blancos' 17-game winning streak. It's not quite David vs. Goliath, because the visitors are only eighth in La Liga and 13 points off high-flying Real at the summit, but we can liken it to David vs. Nikolai Valuev or somebody massive because they've still got an extremely unenviable task ahead of them tonight.

Is another Madrid victory a foregone conclusion tonight then? Well, not quite. Cast your mind back to November 1 and you may remember Celta travelling to Camp Nou expected to endure 90 minutes of the Barca treatment en route to a heavy defeat - but they won 1-0 courtesy of a Joaquin Larrivey goal. It's a cautionary tale if ever there was one, and Carlo Ancelotti will be telling his troops that they can ill-afford the slightest hint of complacency.

We spoke about why Celta have a few reasons to be optimistic ahead of kickoff, but let's look at why this may be a very, very long night for the visitors. Eduardo Berizzo's side have lost two and drawn one of their last three Liga outings, and even lost 2-1 to third-tier club Las Palmas in the Copa del Rey in midweek. It looks like beating Barcelona has been the kiss of death for Celta, considering they have not won a game since.

17 straight wins, though! It's a ridiculous achievement, and one that ought to illustrate just how strong Madrid are at the moment. It's been 84 days since Real have lost a game of football, my friends. Their last defeat came way back on September 13, where the Blancos lost 2-1 to local rivals Atletico Madrid at the Bernabeu. It has to end sooner or later, though, and we're sure Celta will give it a go this evening.

Right let's have a munch on some team news, shall we? I'll have this in the coming minutes so stay tuned!

REAL MADRID XI: Casillas; Carvajal, Ramos, Pepe, Marcelo; Illarramendi, Kroos, James; Bale, Benzema, Ronaldo

CELTA VIGO XI: Sergio, H. Mallo, Cabral, Fontás, Jonny, Radoja, P. Hernández, Krohn-Dehli, Orellana, Nolito, Larrivey

REAL SUBS: Navas, Varane, Coentrao, Arbeloa, Nacho, Chicharito, Medran

CELTA SUBS: Rubén, Planas, Sergi Gómez, Álex López, Augusto, Santi Mina and Charles

Right we'll start with the hosts and looks like Ancelotti just makes the one change from the 2-1 win away to Malaga in La Liga last week. Asier Illarramendi comes in to replace the suspended Isco, with Toni Kroos and James Rodriguez joining him in midfield.

Cristiano Ronaldo - who has nine in his last five meetings with Celta - and Gareth Bale line up on the flanks, with Karim Benzema in the middle. Dani Carvajal continues in defence alongside Pepe, Marcelo and Sergio Ramos, while Iker Casillas lines up between the sticks of course.

On to Celta now and like Ancelotti, Berizzo makes just the one change to his team from the 1-0 defeat at home Eibar last weekend. Surprising, eh? Pablo Hernandez comes into midfield and replaces Alex Lopez, who drops to the bench. Jaoquin Larrivey partners Nolito in attack, with the duo scoring 12 times between them this season.

Incidentally, Real can equal the all-time Spanish record of consecutive wins if they get past Celta Vigo. Who are the current holders? Frank Rijkaard's Barcelona from the 2005-06 season, who won 18 times on the spin. Equalling a record set by their bitter rivals - do they need any more incentive?

Right, both sets of players enter the field wearing anti-violence t-shirts over their jerseys. This is a reference to the Deportivo fan who was killed after clashes with rival supporters last week.

KICKOFF: Aaaaaaaaaaand we are off at the Bernabeu. Real Madrid, vying for an 18th successive victory, get us underway. Let's go.

We've seen the first evidence of what Real have planned for tonight as Gareth Bale exchanges a slick one-two with Karim Benzema before floating a right-footed cross in Ronaldo, but it's well over the Portuguese's head.

Ronaldo and Bale have switched wings it seems, and the former swings in a fantastic ball for Benzema, but it's just inches out of the Frenchman's reach. Good play from the European champions. They're bossing this so far.

It's clear that Real are targeting left-back Jonny in these early stages because everything they've created has come down their right-hand side. I don't envy the youngster tonight.

Best cross of the night and it comes from Carvajal, who floats a delightful ball in for Ronaldo but right-back Hugo Mallo does well and heads out for a corner.

CHANCE! 10 minutes in and we've seen the first real chance, and it's Sergio Ramos. The ball falls very kindly to the centre-back after Ronaldo headed Kroos's corner at goal, but Ramos thrashes wide from all of about three yards. That should've been the opener.

CHANCE! What a superb challenge this is from Jonny. James Rodriguez races down Real's right-hand side and plays a ball across the face of goal for Ronaldo, who's just waiting to tap home his 21st La Liga goal of the season but Jonny gets back in the nick of time. Brilliant.

It's so hard to see the visitors leaving with anything other than a defeat here. They've defended brilliantly so far, with full-backs Jonny and Hugo Mallo producing some crucial interventions already, but it's a massive ask for them to do it until 9pm.

CLOSE! What a fantastic goal this would've been. Toni Kroos drives a delightful cross over to the unmarked Ronaldo, whose brilliant overhead looks on course go beat Sergio but it skims the roof of the net. Wonderful technique. Shades of Wayne Rooney vs. Manchester City in 2011, but it didn't hit his shin!

Huge intervention from Marcelo, who stabs the ball away to prevent Fabio Orellana from latching on to Hernandez's pass and heading toward goal. Well done Marcelo. Celta haven't looked bad going forward, you know. I can see them scoring tonight.

Real have a free kick from around 40 yards now, which can only mean one thing: Ronaldo's going to hit the wall! But let's see how it pans out...

And it's actually Bale who takes it and, well, it's not a great effort from the Welshman and the ball swerves well over the bar.

25 minutes in and you have to admire Celta Vigo's resolve so far. Sergio Ramos should've scored, and Ronaldo sent a classy overhead just over the bar, but other than that they've been quite comfortable it has to be said. They've defended well and they're good value for what they've got.

SAVE! Great save from Sergio Alvarez, who punches away Ronaldo's near-post effort. Credit to Marcelo, who played a sublime over-the-top ball from around 60 yards to find the Portuguese.

Half-an-hour gone and Celta still holding strong. I can tell you for a fact that they don't look like a team who have lost three of their last four games.

CHANCE! This is poor from James Rodriguez following a free-flowing move from the Blancos. He drives a tame shot straight at Sergio, but Bale was overlapping and he should have played him in. Poor decision.

PENALTY TO REAL MADRID: Jonny goes into the referee's notebook for bringing Ronaldo down in the box. Looked a clear foul but completely needless.

Yep, Ronaldo steps up and sends Sergio Alvarez the wrong way. It's a fine penalty, but Jonny will be kicking himself. Celta looked good to make it to half time without conceding but it's a massive ask for them now.

BOOKING: James now goes into the book for bringing down Mallo. The Colombian has no complaints.

SAVE! Toni Kroos steals possession deep in Celta's half, and the ball falls to James, who tries his luck with a first-time effort from outside the box, but it's telegraphed and Sergio beats it away. Good save, but James should've really scored.

Who had Under 8.5 corners? It's 7-0 to Real Madrid in the corner stakes but you can just about rip that bet up now. Kroos's delivery from set-pieces is truly brilliant by the way. It's only a matter of time before they can score from one of them.

Now then. Celta prepare to swing in a corner of their own so let's see if they can't snatch a half-time draw - and it's an excellent delivery from Nolito but Kroos meets it and averts the danger.

That's all she wrote in the first half, my friends. Real have been comfortably the better team, but it's testament to Celta and their defence that it's only the one goal that they trail by.

And, in some ways, they're unfortunate to be losing. They've defended so well at times that they nearly deserve to have earned a half-time draw, but Jonny - who has been superb overall - conceded a soft penalty, which Ronaldo converted on 35 minutes.

Anyways, meet me back here in around four minutes for the remainder of this one. It's a big ask for Celta to get anything out of the game now but let's wait and see what the second half throws up.

RESTART: Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand we're back underway in the Spanish capital, my friends. Celta kick us off once more and let's see if they can prevent Real from grabbing their 18th successive win.

CLOSE! Great start to this half by Celta, who fashion their best chance of the game so far when Fabio Orellana fires a good shot just wide of Iker Casillas's post. Perhaps a warning sign for Real.

Pretty sloppy start to this second half from the Blancos, who need to get their you know what together sharpish because a one-goal lead isn't unassailable.

Bad news for James Rodriguez, who looks like he might have to come off. He does the famous "I need to be subbed" gesture and drops to the ground. Let's see who replaces him.

SUBSTITUTION: And it's Alvaro Arbeloa who replaces the Colombian. Lord knows how that works because it's hardly like-for-like, but it looks like Arbeloa will move to right-back, allowing Carvajal advance into midfield.

Real haven't started this half well at all, folks. They look very lethargic already, as if the game is already won. Unfortunately for them there's a solid 35 minutes left before they can celebrate their 18th successive win.

Nothing lethargic about Bale, though, as the Welshman skips past Hugo Malla before fizzing a left-footed cross into the box but it's well defended.

Very disjointed from Real Madrid and Celta Vigo. Both teams are struggling to string passes together, but the hosts definitely need a second goal because Celta have enjoyed plenty of possession in this half, but there's not much cutting edge.

SAVE! Best chance of the half and it's Gareth Bale, who is fed by Ronaldo in the box but, instead of picking his spot, he goes for power and Sergio Alvarez comfortably beats it away. Should be 2-0 and game over.

Put a fork in it, my friends. That should be that and it's Ronaldo, who volleys past Sergio, who got a firm hand on it, but he couldn't keep it out at his near post. Very good finish. 22 La Liga goals now, and it's only December 6. He's a bit special, isn't he.

This might be a decent chance for Celta now as they win a free kick just on the edge of the box. This has to go in if they want to salvage something from this.

And it's Nolito, who tries to float the ball over the wall en route to the net, but Bale jumps to get the block in.

This doesn't look good for Gustavo Cabral, who is receiving treatment just off the field after landing awkwardly and suffering a knee injury it seems. Play has resumed but Cabral is still being worked on.

CHANCE! Ronaldo will be absolutely fuming in no uncertain terms. Benzema gallops toward goal but, instead of squaring to his unmarked Real teammate, inexplicably tries to scoop it over Sergio Alvarez and subsequently fails. You can understand Benzema's motives; he's a striker and he wants a goal, but he really should've squared that one.

BOOKING: Dani Carvajal goes into the book for diving, and he's absolutely furious about it. Rightly so because he was indeed bundled over by Jonny I think it was. That's a really bad decision by Mallenco.

SAVE! Good save by Sergio to keep out Gareth Bale's glancing header, which looked destined for the top corner.

CLOSE! What a fine effort this is. Nolito curls a brilliant free kick around the wall, and it has Casillas scrambling across, but it hits the side-netting. Deserved a goal almost.

Ronaldo has just set a La Liga record for hat-tricks! He converts Marcelo's cross to send Real into a 3-0 lead. It his 23rd treble in Spain, taking him above Telmo Zarra and Alfredo di Stefano. Poor Zarra; he only saw his all-time goalscoring record broken there two weeks ago by Lionel Messi.

SUBSTITUTION: Ronaldo is coming off now and he's replaced by Javier Hernandez.

It's been disappointing from Celta in this second half. They haven't defended anywhere near as well as they did in the first half and the scoreline reflects that accurately. They'll be put out of their misery now in a minute. Two minutes of normal time left.

Decent chance for Nolito to pull one back for Celta now as he lines up a free kick, but it's not as impressive as his earlier efforts and goes straight into the wall.

Well that's all we've got time for, folks. Real equal Barcelona's record of 18 successive wins. Incredible, but behind every great team is a great man and, well, Ronaldo is just a joke at this stage. He brought his tally of La Liga goals to 200 tonight with his 23rd hat-trick in a Real Madrid shirt. What a man.

Anyways, that's game, folks. We hope you've enjoyed our coverage and enjoy your weekend. Laters.