Jude Bellingham back in scoring form as Real Madrid edge out Juventus

It wasn’t a classic but the chorus from the Santiago Bernabéu was. It had been a while and they had missed moments such as this – but for the first time since April Fool’s Day, Jude Bellingham stood before the south end with his arms wide, listening to them sing Hey Jude. There had been a shoulder injury, doubts about his role too, but now he had scored his first goal of the season, ultimately taking Real Madrid to a 1-0 win against a Juventus team that aren’t what they once were but who made a match of it. “We had to sweat for it,” Thibaut Courtois said.

He knew better than anyone, having to rescue a one‑on‑one from Dusan Vlahovic and make another decisive save from Khéphren Thuram in the very last minute to leave Madrid on nine points and Igor Tudor’s side below the cut in this league phase. At the end of a match with more shots than football, the Juventus manager may reflect on a decent start, those saves a great opportunity wasted on 85 minutes; their reality, though, makes worrying reading.

“An Italian team in trouble is twice as dangerous,” Xabi Alonso had said and Juventus, who had not won since September, did cause Madrid problems at the beginning and again at the end. Madrid dominated possession, 66%-34%, but Juventus threatened in transition, especially with Pierre Kalulu running and Vlahovic linking, and fired off 12 shots to go with 27 from the home side.

They had started well, certainly. After just three minutes they thought they were away, Vlahovic a little unfortunate to be penalised for pulling at Éder Militão. Three minutes later, Raúl Asencio had to slide ahead of Vlahovic when Kalulu dashed clear on the right. And three minutes after that, Weston McKennie’s shot was pushed past the post.

What followed, from Federico Gatti’s drive, was a more impressive stop. Fifteen minutes had gone. That said, soon the Italian side’s momentum had too. Madrid took control. Mostly it was all a bit functional, though, and the three best opportunities came to Aurélien Tchouaméni, who would not be Alonso’s striker of choice. Two were headed over, a third deflected wide; another headed opportunity was missed by Militão.

The best moments came from Arda Guler. The Turk, whose football was the nearest thing there was to fluidity, was always involved. His neat stop and turn saw him clip to the far post for Bellingham.

There was not much sign of Kylian Mbappé yet, but when he did appear it was the closest Madrid got to scoring. First his shot was stopped by Michele Di Gregorio, who would make eight saves. Then with some lovely fast footwork he turned Andrea Cambiaso twice until he tumbled to the turf and set up Militão to fire over.

The Brazilian dived to stop Kalulu at the start of the second half, and then came the regulation Courtois rescue when suddenly Vlahovic was away. The “assist” had been quite something, Lloyd Kelly cutting out a pass inside his own area and the ball bouncing from the instep of his boot right through the middle to beyond the halfway line. Sprinting after it, huge space opening, Vlahovic raced Militão, holding him off and heading into the area where Courtois saved.

Then what tends to happen happened, the save made good by the goal that follows it. A flash from Vinícius Júnior created it, working himself enough space amid four men to release a low, left-footed shot which hit the post. Lurking in that striker’s role was Bellingham. The breakthrough found, Madrid should have finished it, Mbappé stopped by Di Gregorio and Fede Valverde seeing his volley blocked by Gatti. Then Di Gregorio made a brilliant double stop from Mbappé and Brahim Díaz.

Click here to read article