It may not have been a classic encounter, the roar from the Madrid's home stadium was familiar. After a long wait, Jude Bellingham finally stood before the home supporters with his arms outstretched, basking in the fans' singing of Hey Jude. After a shoulder injury and questions about his position, he scored his first goal of the season, eventually securing a narrow win for Real Madrid over a Juventus side that made them work hard. “It was a tough battle,” commented the Belgian goalkeeper.
Key Saves Ensure the Victory
Courtois knew perfectly well, having to save a one-on-one from Dušan Vlahović and produce another decisive stop from Khéphren Thuram in the dying moments. This result leaves Madrid on a strong tally and the opposition team outside the qualifying spots. After a game with more shots than fluid football, the Juventus manager may reflect on a decent start, with those saves representing a missed chance around the 85-minute mark; the team's reality however makes for worrying statistics.
“An Italian team in trouble is twice as dangerous,” Xabi Alonso had remarked beforehand.
Juventus, who were without a victory since last month, posed Madrid problems at the start and once more near the end. Madrid dominated possession, 66%-34%, but Juventus threatened on the break, particularly with Pierre Kalulu surging forward and Vlahović combining, firing off a dozen attempts compared to the home side's twenty-seven.
Strong Opening for Visitors
The visitors began brightly, without a doubt. After just three minutes, they believed they were ahead, the forward a little unfortunate to be penalized for pulling Éder Militão. Three minutes later, Raúl Asencio had to slide in front of him when the wing-back dashed clear on the right flank. And three minutes after that, Weston McKennie's shot was deflected past the post.
Next, from Federico Gatti's powerful strike, was a even better save. A quarter of an hour had gone. However, soon the Italians' momentum had faded as well. Madrid assumed command. Largely it was all a bit functional, however, and the three best opportunities came to the French midfielder, who wouldn’t be Alonso’s striker of choice. Two were off target, a third one took a deflection; an additional chance with the head was missed by Militão.
Guler Shines
Most creative play came from Arda Güler. Güler, whose football 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 Kylian Mbappé early on, but when he did appear it was the closest Madrid came to scoring. Initially his shot was denied by Michele Di Gregorio, who would produce several stops. Then some exquisite dribbling saw him evade the full-back repeatedly until he tumbled to the turf and laid off to his teammate to blast over.
Late Tension
The Brazilian threw himself to stop Kalulu 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 intercepting a pass inside his own area and the ball bouncing from the instep of his boot directly through the center to beyond the center circle. Racing after it, huge space appearing, Vlahović outpaced Militão, holding him off and advancing into the box where the keeper made the stop.
Next what tends to happen happened, the stop compensated for by the goal that follows it. A flash from the Brazilian winger created it, creating enough space amid multiple defenders to release a driven effort which hit the post. Positioned in that forward position was the goalscorer. With the deadlock broken, Madrid ought to have sealed the game, Mbappé stopped by the keeper and the Uruguayan seeing his half-volley deflected by Gatti. Then the Juventus goalkeeper made a superb quick saves from Mbappé and the attacking midfielder.
It was not the only one: 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 dived to deny Thuram, his work complete. For Juve, there was no way back, Bellingham’s first of the campaign the last of the match.
“It’s a great feeling, a long time now since I’ve found the net, a period out and dreaming of that instant, back in the Champions League and against a big team. To get the decisive goal, in our stadium, it’s unbelievable. I was at ease, really good. To play well was important and to score the winning goal helps the team greatly.”
As for his performance, he continued: “It wasn't that last year was a failure, still 15 goals, fourteen setups, but I know the perception was that it was poorer. But I was a contributor to that, how we underperformed last year, there were nonetheless good moments but not the level I want to play at, not the caliber like the debut season. Now I’ve had my shoulder surgery, a new manager, he’s got that system, how we want to play…. You have to learn from it.”
