It may not have been a classic encounter, the chanting from the Santiago Bernabéu was familiar. After a long wait, Jude Bellingham finally stood before the home supporters with his arms outstretched, basking in the crowd's rendition of Hey Jude. After a shoulder injury and questions about his position, he scored his opening strike of the campaign, ultimately delivering a narrow win for Real Madrid over a Juventus side that put up a fight. “We had to sweat for it,” commented the Belgian goalkeeper.
Decisive Stops Secure the Victory
The shot-stopper knew perfectly well, having to save a clear chance from Dušan Vlahović and produce another crucial save from the French midfielder in the dying moments. The win leaves Madrid on nine points and the opposition team below the cut. After a match with plenty of attempts but little elegance, the visiting coach may consider a decent start, with those opportunities representing a missed chance around the 85-minute mark; their current situation however presents concerning reading.
“An Italian team in trouble is twice as dangerous,” Xabi Alonso had remarked in advance.
The Turin-based club, which hadn’t won since last month, posed Madrid problems at the start and once more near the conclusion. Madrid dominated the ball, 66%-34%, but Juventus were dangerous on the break, particularly with Pierre Kalulu surging forward and the striker linking up, firing off 12 shots compared to the hosts' 27.
Promising Start for Away Side
The visitors began brightly, without a doubt. After just three minutes, they thought they were in front, Vlahović somewhat unfortunate to be called for holding the Brazilian defender. Shortly after, the Madrid defender had to intervene in front of Vlahović when Kalulu dashed clear on the right flank. And three minutes after that, the American midfielder's effort was deflected past the post.
Next, from the defender's powerful strike, was a more impressive save. Fifteen minutes had gone. However, quickly the Italians' momentum had dissipated as well. Madrid assumed command. Mostly it was rather mechanical, though, and the three best opportunities fell to the French midfielder, who is not the coach's preferred forward. Two were headed over, a third one deflected wide; an additional headed opportunity was wasted by Militão.
Guler Shines
The best moments were provided by Arda Güler. Güler, whose football was the nearest thing there was to smooth attacking, was constantly in the action. His neat stop and turn saw him clip to the back post for Bellingham.
Little was seen of the French superstar early on, but when he finally emerged it was the closest Madrid came to a goal. Initially his shot was stopped by Michele Di Gregorio, who would produce eight saves. Next some lovely fast footwork saw him evade Andrea Cambiaso twice until he went down to the turf and laid off to his teammate to fire over.
Second-Half Drama
Militão threw himself to stop Kalulu at the start of the second period, and then came the customary Courtois rescue when unexpectedly the attacker was through. The “inadvertent pass” had been remarkable, with Lloyd Kelly intercepting a pass inside his own penalty box and the sphere deflecting from the inside of his foot right through the center to past the center circle. Racing after it, ample room opening, Vlahović outpaced Militão, holding him off and advancing into the box where Courtois made the stop.
Next what tends to happen occurred, the stop made good by the score that follows it. A flash from Vinícius Júnior created it, creating enough room amid multiple defenders to unleash a driven effort which hit the upright. Positioned in that striker’s role was the goalscorer. The breakthrough found, Madrid should have finished it, the Frenchman denied by Di Gregorio and Fede Valverde seeing his volley deflected by the defender. Subsequently Di Gregorio made a superb quick saves from the forward and the attacking midfielder.
It was not the only one: as the match was slipping away, the defender had to make a incredible last-ditch tackle as Madrid were opened up and at the mercy of the substitute momentarily alone in the penalty box. Then in the dying moments Courtois flew in to deny Thuram, his work done. For the visitors, there was no way back, Bellingham’s first of the campaign the final of the match.
“It’s a great feeling, a while now since I’ve found the net, a period out and dreaming of that instant, returning in the Champions League and against a major opponent. To score a winner, in our stadium, it’s incredible. I was at ease, excellent. To play well was crucial and to score the winning goal benefits the team greatly.”
As for his performance, he added: “I didn’t think last year was a disaster, still fifteen strikes, fourteen setups, but I understand the general feeling was that it was worse. But I was a part of that, how we didn’t play as well last year, there were still good moments but not the level I aim to play at, not the caliber like the debut season. Now I’ve had my operation, a different coach, he’s got that system, how we want to play…. You have to take lessons.”
