While it wasn't a match for the ages, the roar from the Madrid's home stadium was familiar. After a long wait, Jude Bellingham finally stood before the south end with his arms wide open, listening to the crowd's singing of his anthem. Following a lengthy layoff and uncertainty about his position, he netted his first goal of the campaign, ultimately delivering a narrow win for Real Madrid over a Juventus side that made them work hard. “It was a tough battle,” commented the Belgian goalkeeper.
Decisive Stops Secure the Victory
Courtois knew better than anyone, having to rescue a one-on-one from Dušan Vlahović and make another crucial stop from the French midfielder in the dying moments. This result leaves Madrid on a strong tally and Igor Tudor’s team outside the qualifying spots. After a match with plenty of attempts but little elegance, the Juventus manager may reflect on a decent start, with those saves representing a missed chance around the closing stages; their current situation though presents worrying statistics.
“An Italian team in trouble is twice as dangerous,” Xabi Alonso had warned beforehand.
Juventus, who hadn’t won since last month, posed Madrid issues at the start and again near the end. Madrid dominated the ball, with a significant advantage, but Juventus threatened on the counter, especially with the French defender surging forward and Vlahović linking up, firing off a dozen attempts compared to the home side's 27.
Promising Start for Away Side
The visitors began brightly, without a doubt. Within three minutes, they thought they were ahead, Vlahović somewhat unfortunate to be penalized for holding the Brazilian defender. Shortly after, Raúl Asencio had to intervene ahead of Vlahović when the wing-back broke free on the right. Then soon after, Weston McKennie's effort was deflected wide.
What followed, from Federico Gatti's powerful strike, was a more impressive stop. Fifteen minutes had gone. However, quickly the Italians' momentum had dissipated as well. Madrid assumed command. Largely it was rather mechanical, though, and the three best opportunities fell to Aurélien Tchouaméni, who is not the coach's preferred forward. A couple were off target, a third deflected wide; an additional headed opportunity was missed by Militão.
Turkish Talent Impresses
Most creative play were provided by the young Turk. Güler, whose football was the nearest thing there was to fluidity, was constantly in the action. His neat stop and turn saw him clip to the far post for the Englishman.
Little was seen of Kylian Mbappé early on, but when he did appear it was the closest Madrid got to scoring. First his attempt was denied by Michele Di Gregorio, who would make several stops. Next some lovely fast footwork saw him turn the full-back twice until he went down to the ground and set up Militão to blast over.
Second-Half Drama
The Brazilian dived to halt the runner at the outset of the second half, and then came the customary save from the keeper when suddenly the attacker was away. The “assist” had been quite something, with the defender cutting out a ball inside his own penalty box and the ball deflecting from the inside of his boot right through the center to past the halfway line. Racing after it, huge space opening, Vlahović outpaced his marker, holding him off and advancing into the area where the keeper made the stop.
Then what tends to happen occurred, the stop compensated for by the goal that follows it. A flash from the Brazilian winger set up it, working himself enough space amid multiple defenders to unleash a driven effort which struck the post. Positioned in that forward position was the goalscorer. The breakthrough found, Madrid ought to have sealed the game, Mbappé denied by the keeper and the Uruguayan seeing his volley blocked by Gatti. Then the Juventus goalkeeper made a superb quick saves from Mbappé and Brahim Díaz.
There were more scares: as the match was drawing to a close, Raúl Asencio had to make a incredible last-ditch tackle as Madrid were opened up and at the risk of Loïs Openda unmarked in the area. Then in the final seconds the Madrid keeper flew in to deny the midfielder, 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 scored, a period out and thinking of that instant, returning in the elite competition and against a big team. To get the decisive goal, in our stadium, it’s unbelievable. I felt comfortable, excellent. To perform was important and to net the match-winner helps the team a lot.”
Regarding his performance, he continued: “It wasn't that last year was a failure, with fifteen strikes, fourteen setups, but I know the general feeling was that it was poorer. But I was a contributor to that, how we underperformed last year, there were still positive spells but not the standard I aim to play at, not the caliber like the debut season. Now I’ve had my shoulder surgery, a different coach, he’s got that system, how we want to play…. You have to learn from it.”
