It may not have been a classic encounter, the roar from the Madrid's home stadium was unmistakable. After a long wait, Jude Bellingham finally stood before the south end with his arms wide open, listening to the fans' rendition of Hey Jude. Following a shoulder injury and uncertainty about his role, he netted his opening strike of the season, eventually securing a narrow win for Real Madrid over a Juventus side that made them work hard. “We had to sweat for it,” commented Thibaut Courtois.
Key Saves Secure the Win
Courtois knew perfectly well, having to rescue a one-on-one from Dušan Vlahović and produce another decisive stop 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 game with more shots than fluid football, the Juventus manager may consider a decent start, with those opportunities representing a missed chance around the closing stages; their current situation however presents concerning reading.
“A side from Italy in difficulty is doubly threatening,” the Madrid coach had warned beforehand.
Juventus, who were without a victory since last month, posed Madrid problems at the start and again near the end. Madrid dominated possession, with a significant advantage, but Juventus threatened on the break, especially with Pierre Kalulu surging forward and Vlahović combining, managing a dozen attempts compared to the home side's 27.
Strong Opening for Away Side
The visitors began brightly, without a doubt. After just three minutes, they thought they were in front, Vlahović somewhat unfortunate to be called for pulling Éder Militão. Three minutes later, the Madrid defender had to slide ahead of Vlahović when the wing-back dashed clear on the right flank. Then soon after, Weston McKennie's shot was deflected wide.
What followed, from the defender's drive, was a even better save. A quarter of an hour had passed. However, soon the Italians' momentum had dissipated as well. Madrid assumed command. Largely it was all a bit functional, though, and the three best opportunities came to Aurélien Tchouaméni, who is not Alonso’s striker of choice. A couple were off target, a third deflected wide; an additional headed opportunity was wasted by Militão.
Turkish Talent Impresses
Most creative play were provided by the young Turk. Güler, whose football was the closest there was to fluidity, was always involved. His neat stop and turn saw him clip to the far post for the Englishman.
There was not much sign of the French superstar yet, but when he did appear it was the closest Madrid came to scoring. Initially his attempt was denied by Michele Di Gregorio, who would make eight saves. Then some exquisite dribbling saw him evade the full-back twice until he went down to the turf and laid off to Militão to fire over.
Late Tension
The Brazilian dived to halt the runner at the outset of the second half, and then came the regulation save from the keeper when unexpectedly Vlahović was through. The “assist” had been quite something, with the defender intercepting a pass inside his own area and the sphere bouncing from the inside of his foot directly through the center to past the center circle. Sprinting after it, ample room appearing, Vlahović outpaced Militão, using his strength and advancing into the area where Courtois made the stop.
Then what tends to happen happened, the stop made good by the goal that follows it. A burst from the Brazilian winger set up it, creating enough room amid four men to release 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 volley blocked by Gatti. Subsequently the Juventus goalkeeper made a superb quick saves from the forward 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 exposed and at the risk of Loïs Openda unmarked in the area. Finally in the final seconds the Madrid keeper dived to stop Thuram, his job done. For Juve, there was no route to a comeback, Bellingham’s first of the campaign the final of the encounter.
“I'm overjoyed, a while now since I’ve found the net, a lot of time 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 incredible. I was at ease, really good. To perform was important and to net the match-winner benefits the team a lot.”
As for his performance, he continued: “I didn’t think last year was a failure, still fifteen strikes, fourteen setups, but I understand the general feeling was that it was worse. But I was a part of that, how we didn’t play as well last year, there were still positive spells but not the level I aim to play at, not the level 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.”
