It may not have been a match for the ages, the chanting from the Madrid's home stadium was unmistakable. After a long wait, Jude Bellingham finally found himself before the home supporters with his arms outstretched, listening to the crowd's rendition of Hey Jude. Following a shoulder injury and questions 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. “It was a tough battle,” stated the Belgian goalkeeper.
Key Saves Secure the Win
The shot-stopper knew better than anyone, having to rescue a one-on-one from the Serbian striker and make another decisive stop from Khéphren Thuram in the dying moments. This result puts Madrid on a strong tally and the opposition team below the cut. After a match with plenty of attempts but little elegance, the visiting coach may reflect on a decent start, with those opportunities representing a wasted moment around the 85-minute mark; their current situation though presents worrying statistics.
“An Italian team in trouble is twice as dangerous,” Xabi Alonso had warned beforehand.
The Turin-based club, who hadn’t won since last month, did cause Madrid problems at the beginning and again near the conclusion. Madrid commanded the ball, with a significant advantage, but Juventus threatened on the break, especially with the French defender running and Vlahović combining, firing off a dozen attempts compared to the hosts' twenty-seven.
Strong Opening for Away Side
They had started well, without a doubt. After just three minutes, they thought they were in front, Vlahović somewhat unlucky to be called for holding the Brazilian defender. Three minutes later, Raúl Asencio had to slide ahead of Vlahović when the wing-back broke free on the right. Then soon after, the American midfielder's shot was deflected wide.
Next, from Federico Gatti's drive, was a even better save. Fifteen minutes had passed. That said, soon the Italians' momentum had faded too. Madrid assumed command. Largely it was all a bit functional, though, and the top chances fell to the French midfielder, who wouldn’t be the coach's preferred forward. Two were headed over, a third one took a deflection; an additional chance with the head was missed by the center-back.
Guler Shines
The best moments were provided by Arda Güler. The Turk, whose football was the closest there was to fluidity, was constantly in the action. His neat stop and turn saw him clip to the back post for Bellingham.
There was not much sign of the French superstar yet, but when he did appear it was the nearest Madrid came to scoring. First his shot was denied by the Juventus keeper, who would produce eight saves. Then some exquisite dribbling saw him turn Andrea Cambiaso twice until he went down to the turf and set up Militão to fire over.
Late Tension
Militão threw himself to stop 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 intercepting a ball inside his own penalty box and the ball deflecting from the inside of his boot directly through the middle to past the halfway line. Racing after it, huge space opening, the striker outpaced Militão, holding him off and heading into the area where the keeper made the stop.
Then the usual pattern happened, the stop compensated for by the goal that follows it. A burst from Vinícius Júnior set up it, working himself enough room amid multiple defenders to unleash a driven effort which hit the post. Positioned in that striker’s role was the goalscorer. With the deadlock broken, Madrid ought to have sealed the game, the Frenchman denied by the keeper and Fede Valverde 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 game was drawing to a close, Raúl Asencio had to make a stunning sliding block as Madrid were opened up and at the mercy of the substitute unmarked in the area. Finally in the final seconds the Madrid keeper flew in to stop Thuram, his job done. For the visitors, there was no way back, the opening goal of the campaign the final of the match.
“I'm overjoyed, a long time now since I’ve scored, a lot of time out and thinking of that moment, returning in the elite competition and against a big team. To score a winner, 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 greatly.”
Regarding his performance, he added: “It wasn't that last year was a disaster, still fifteen strikes, 14 assists, but I know the general feeling was that it was worse. But I was a contributor to that, how we underperformed last year, there were still good moments but not the level I want to play at, not the caliber like the first year. Now I’ve had my operation, a new manager, he’s got that shape, how we want to play…. You have to learn from it.”
