It may not have been a classic encounter, the roar from the Madrid's home stadium was unmistakable. After a long wait, Jude Bellingham once again stood before the south end with his arms wide open, listening to the fans' rendition of his anthem. Following a shoulder injury and uncertainty about his position, he scored his first goal of the campaign, eventually delivering a narrow win for Real Madrid over a Juventus side that put up a fight. “We had to sweat for it,” stated Thibaut Courtois.
Decisive Stops Secure the Win
Courtois understood perfectly well, having to save a one-on-one from Dušan Vlahović and make another decisive save from Khéphren Thuram in the final minute. The win leaves Madrid on nine points and Igor Tudor’s team outside the qualifying spots. At the end of a game with plenty of attempts but little elegance, the Juventus manager may consider a promising opening, with those opportunities representing a wasted moment around the closing stages; the team's reality however makes for worrying statistics.
“An Italian team in difficulty is twice as dangerous,” the Madrid coach had remarked beforehand.
Juventus, which hadn’t won since September, posed Madrid issues at the beginning and again near the conclusion. Madrid commanded the ball, with a significant advantage, but Juventus were dangerous on the counter, particularly with Pierre Kalulu running and Vlahović linking up, managing a dozen attempts compared to the hosts' 27.
Promising Start for Away Side
They had started well, certainly. After just three minutes, they thought they were in front, Vlahović a little unfortunate to be called for holding the Brazilian defender. Shortly after, Raúl Asencio had to intervene in front of him when the wing-back dashed clear on the right flank. Then soon after, the American midfielder's effort was deflected wide.
What followed, from Federico Gatti's powerful strike, was a even better stop. A quarter of an hour had passed. However, soon the Italians' momentum had dissipated as well. Madrid assumed command. Largely it was rather mechanical, however, and the top chances came to the French midfielder, who wouldn’t be Alonso’s striker of choice. Two were headed over, a third deflected wide; an additional chance with the head was wasted by Militão.
Turkish Talent Impresses
Most creative play came from Arda Güler. Güler, whose play was the nearest thing there was to fluidity, was constantly in the action. His clever control and spin saw him deliver to the far post for the Englishman.
Little was seen of the French superstar early on, but when he finally emerged it was the nearest Madrid came to scoring. First his shot was stopped by the Juventus keeper, who would produce several stops. Next some lovely fast footwork saw him evade Andrea Cambiaso repeatedly until he tumbled to the ground and set up his teammate to blast over.
Late Tension
The Brazilian threw himself to halt the runner at the outset of the second half, and then came the customary save from the keeper when unexpectedly Vlahović was through. The “inadvertent pass” had been quite something, with Lloyd Kelly intercepting a pass inside his own area and the ball bouncing from the inside of his foot directly through the center to beyond the center circle. Racing after it, ample room opening, the striker raced Militão, using his strength and advancing into the area where Courtois saved.
Then the usual pattern occurred, the save compensated for by the score that comes after it. A flash from the Brazilian winger set up it, creating enough room amid four men to release a low, left-footed shot which struck the post. Lurking in that striker’s role was Bellingham. With the deadlock broken, Madrid ought to have sealed the game, Mbappé denied by the keeper and Fede Valverde seeing his volley blocked by Gatti. Then Di Gregorio made a superb quick saves from Mbappé and the attacking midfielder.
There were more scares: as the game was drawing to a close, the defender had to make a stunning sliding block as Madrid were opened up and at the mercy of Loïs Openda unmarked in the area. Then in the final seconds the Madrid keeper flew in to deny Thuram, his work done. For Juve, there was no way back, Bellingham’s first of the campaign the last of the encounter.
“I'm overjoyed, a while now since I’ve found the net, a lot of time out and dreaming of that moment, back in the Champions League and against a big team. To score a winner, in our stadium, it’s unbelievable. I felt comfortable, 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 disaster, with 15 goals, fourteen setups, but I know the general feeling was that it was worse. But I was a part of that, how we underperformed last year, there were still positive spells but not the standard I aim to play at, not the level like the debut season. Now I’ve had my operation, a different coach, he’s got that system, how we intend to play…. You have to learn from it.”
