Real Madrid vs Union Berlin – Champions League LIVE: Jude Bellingham starts for Los Blancos as Leonardo Bonucci faces old enemies with German debutants

I imagine Carlo Ancelotti’s players would like to make their own manager eat his words!

It’s rare for the competition’s most storied team to not be favourites for the trophy. They just find a way to win it.

We get underway at 5.45pm.

Real Madrid enter tonight with a perfect record this campaign with five wins from five LaLiga outings.

The addition of Jude Bellingham behind a front two has proved revelatory. Often he’ll pop up in the box with a tap-in – as much as a midfield link, he’s been an excellent poacher for Madrid. They’re top of the table.

Union have kickstarted their campaign in modest fashion. A couple of wins and a couple of defeats puts them eighth in the Bundesliga. They’ve lost two in a row.

One of their two forwards tonight, Kevin Behrens, has bagged four goals in the league.

It’s also a funny moment for Lucas Tousart, the midfielder who they signed from rivals Hertha Berlin in the summer. Goodbye Hertha, hello Champions League.

Union are looking to build on a fourth-place finish in Germany’s top flight.

Grizzled midfield warhorse Toni Kroos doesn’t start tonight, but he’ll hope to bring dashes of quality off the bench – if only to get one over his brother!

It’s a tale of two cities and one Kroos family, as brother Felix Kroos is on the coaching staff for Union’s U19s.

Madrid or Union, white or red, old or young, the passion is at full pitch outside the Bernabeu.

The decibel levels are going to be ridiculous inside a veritable cauldron of a ground.

Doesn’t Carlo Ancelotti look as cool as always?

Even in the face of an avalanche, he would look unfazed. He’s won four Champions Leagues by now. He’s seen it all.

For Union Berlin fans, seeing their side in the Champions League must be surreal even considering their recent history. This is a club with fresh wounds.

Only as recent as 2004 did they nearly go bankrupt. Just over a decade ago they were slumming it out in the German fourth tier. Fans helped rebuild a stand with their own hands and gave their blood for the club. How on earth did they get here?

Dominic Hogan take a look. Read below.

And Union have announced their line-up to represent the club for the first time in this competition.

No surprises as defensive stalwart Leonardo Bonucci is in from the beginning, as is Robin Gosens, who played a part in Inter Milan’s defeat to Manchester City in the final in June.

Union tend to field a 3-5-2 or 3-4-2-1.

Carlo Ancelotti released his team sheet well in advance of kick-off and this is the line-up he will field to face Union Berlin.

Jude Bellingham starts, of course.

Such is the excitement around Jude Bellingham that pundits on TV and in pubs across the land are earmarking the young midfielder as a potential Ballon d’Or winner.

Having joined Los Blancos in the summer, he is set to start with them for the first time in the Champions League, having already made a mark on the tournament with Borussia Dortmund.

He’s already broken several records – youngest Englishman to score in the competition, youngest player to start ten games, most goals scored by a teenager (though he’s 20 now), and so on. You’d back him to dazzle in the Champions League for years to come.

Under a shining light, Union took in their new environment yesterday at a training session at the Santiago Bernabeu.

The iconic venue plays host to tonight’s clash.

There are some seasoned pros in this squad: Leonardo Bonucci, a nine-time Serie A winner, commands the defence. There’s also the likes of Kevin Volland in the attacking ranks, but more on them later.

Good afternoon and welcome to Mail Sport’s live blog as Real Madrid give Union Berlin a baptism of fire in the Champions League.

We’re set for an enthralling encounter as 14-time winners of the competition host starry-eyed debutants.

Don’t make the mistake of writing off Union, though. That’s a perilous road. The German outfit have been ripping up expectations for the last few years – and how they’d like to prove their doubters wrong tonight.

We’ll have all the build-up and action right here. Don’t go anywhere.