It may not have been a classic encounter, the chanting from the Santiago Bernabéu was familiar. After a long wait, Jude Bellingham once again found himself before the south end with his arms outstretched, listening to the crowd's singing of his anthem. After a shoulder injury and uncertainty about his position, he netted his opening strike of the campaign, ultimately delivering a 1-0 victory for Real Madrid over a Juventus side that put up a fight. “It was a tough battle,” commented the Belgian goalkeeper.
Decisive Stops Ensure the Victory
The shot-stopper understood better than anyone, having to rescue a one-on-one from Dušan Vlahović and produce another decisive save from Khéphren Thuram in the final minute. The win leaves Madrid on nine points and the opposition team below the cut. At the end of a match with more shots than fluid football, the Juventus manager may reflect on a promising opening, with those saves representing a missed chance around the 85-minute mark; the team's reality though presents concerning reading.
“A side from Italy in difficulty is twice as dangerous,” Xabi Alonso had remarked beforehand.
Juventus, who hadn’t won since last month, posed Madrid problems at the beginning and again near the end. Madrid commanded the ball, 66%-34%, but Juventus were dangerous on the counter, especially with Pierre Kalulu surging forward and Vlahović combining, firing off 12 shots compared to the hosts' 27.
Strong Opening for Away Side
The visitors began brightly, certainly. After just three minutes, they believed they were in front, the forward somewhat unfortunate to be called for holding Éder Militão. Shortly after, Raúl Asencio had to intervene in front of Vlahović when the wing-back dashed clear on the right. Then soon after, Weston McKennie's effort was deflected wide.
What followed, from Federico Gatti's powerful strike, was a even better save. Fifteen minutes had passed. However, quickly the visitors' impetus had faded as well. Madrid took control. Largely it was rather mechanical, however, and the three best opportunities fell to Aurélien Tchouaméni, who wouldn’t be Alonso’s striker of choice. Two were off target, a third took a deflection; another chance with the head was wasted by the center-back.
Guler Shines
The best moments came from the young Turk. Güler, whose play was the nearest thing there was to fluidity, was always involved. His clever control and spin saw him clip to the far post for the Englishman.
There was not much sign of the French superstar yet, but when he finally emerged it was the nearest Madrid came to scoring. Initially his attempt was denied by the Juventus keeper, who would make several stops. Then some exquisite dribbling saw him evade Andrea Cambiaso repeatedly until he tumbled to the turf and set up Militão to fire over.
Late Tension
Militão dived to stop the runner at the start of the second period, and then came the regulation Courtois rescue when unexpectedly Vlahović was away. The “assist” had been remarkable, with the defender cutting out a pass inside his own area and the sphere bouncing from the inside of his foot right through the center to past the halfway line. Sprinting after it, ample room appearing, the striker raced his marker, using his strength and advancing into the area where the keeper saved.
Next the usual pattern occurred, the stop made good by the score that comes after it. A burst from the Brazilian winger created it, creating enough space amid four men to unleash a driven effort which hit the upright. Positioned in that forward position was Bellingham. With the deadlock broken, Madrid should have finished it, Mbappé denied by the keeper and the Uruguayan seeing his half-volley deflected by the defender. Subsequently Di Gregorio made a brilliant double stop from the forward and Brahim Díaz.
There were more scares: as the match was slipping away, Raúl Asencio had to make a stunning sliding block as Madrid were opened up and at the mercy of Loïs Openda unmarked in the area. Finally in the final seconds the Madrid keeper dived to stop the midfielder, his work done. For the visitors, there was no way back, Bellingham’s first of the campaign the last of the match.
“I'm overjoyed, a while now since I’ve scored, a lot of time out and dreaming of that instant, returning in the Champions League and against a major opponent. To score a winner, here at home, it’s incredible. I was at ease, really good. To play well was important and to score the winning goal helps the team greatly.”
Regarding his performance, he added: “It wasn't that last year was a failure, still 15 goals, fourteen setups, but I know the perception was that it was worse. But I was a part of that, how we didn’t play as well last year, there were nonetheless positive spells but not the level I want to play at, not the level like the debut season. Now I’ve had my shoulder surgery, a new manager, he’s got that shape, how we want to play…. You have to learn from it.”
