While it wasn't a match for the ages, the roar from the Santiago Bernabéu was familiar. After a long wait, Jude Bellingham finally found himself before the home supporters with his arms outstretched, basking in the crowd's rendition of Hey Jude. After a shoulder injury and questions about his position, he netted his opening strike of the campaign, eventually delivering a narrow win for Real Madrid over a Italian opponent that made them work hard. “It was a tough battle,” commented the Belgian goalkeeper.
Decisive Stops Ensure the Victory
The shot-stopper knew perfectly well, having to rescue a clear chance from Dušan Vlahović and produce another decisive save from the French midfielder in the dying moments. This result puts Madrid on a strong tally and the opposition team below the cut. At the end of a game with plenty of attempts but little elegance, the Juventus manager may reflect on a decent start, 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 doubly threatening,” the Madrid coach had remarked beforehand.
Juventus, which hadn’t won since September, did cause Madrid problems at the beginning and again near the conclusion. Madrid commanded the ball, 66%-34%, but Juventus were dangerous on the break, particularly with Pierre Kalulu surging forward and Vlahović linking up, firing off 12 shots compared to the home side's twenty-seven.
Strong Opening for Away Side
They had started well, without a doubt. Within three minutes, they thought they were ahead, Vlahović somewhat unfortunate to be called for holding Éder Militão. Three minutes later, the Madrid defender had to intervene ahead of him when the wing-back dashed clear on the right. Then soon after, Weston McKennie's effort was pushed past the post.
What followed, from Federico Gatti's drive, was a more impressive stop. A quarter of an hour had gone. That said, quickly the visitors' impetus had faded too. Madrid took control. Mostly it was all a bit functional, however, and the three best opportunities came to Aurélien Tchouaméni, who wouldn’t be the coach's preferred forward. Two were off target, a third one deflected wide; an additional headed opportunity was missed by the center-back.
Turkish Talent Impresses
Most creative play came from Arda Güler. Güler, whose play was the closest there was to fluidity, was always involved. His clever control and spin saw him clip to the back post for Bellingham.
Little was seen of Kylian Mbappé early on, but when he finally emerged it was the closest Madrid got to a goal. Initially his attempt was stopped by Michele Di Gregorio, who would make several stops. Next some lovely fast footwork saw him evade the full-back repeatedly until he went down to the ground and laid off to Militão to fire over.
Late Tension
Militão dived to stop Kalulu at the start of the second half, and then came the regulation Courtois rescue when suddenly Vlahović was through. The “inadvertent pass” had been quite something, with Lloyd Kelly cutting out a pass inside his own penalty box and the sphere deflecting from the inside of his boot directly through the center to past the halfway line. Racing after it, huge space appearing, Vlahović outpaced his marker, holding him off and advancing into the area where Courtois saved.
Next what tends to happen happened, the stop made good by the goal that comes after it. A burst from Vinícius Júnior created it, working himself enough room amid multiple defenders to release a driven effort which hit the post. Positioned in that forward position was the goalscorer. The breakthrough found, Madrid should have finished it, Mbappé stopped by Di Gregorio and Fede Valverde seeing his volley deflected by Gatti. Then Di Gregorio made a superb quick saves from the forward and Brahim Díaz.
There were more scares: as the game was slipping away, Raúl Asencio had to make a incredible last-ditch tackle as Madrid were opened up and at the risk of Loïs Openda momentarily alone in the area. Finally in the dying moments Courtois flew in to deny Thuram, his work complete. For Juve, there was no route to a comeback, the opening goal of the season the last of the match.
“It’s a great feeling, a while now since I’ve scored, a period out and dreaming of that moment, returning in the Champions League and against a big team. To score a winner, here at home, it’s unbelievable. I was at ease, really good. To play well was crucial and to net the match-winner benefits the team greatly.”
Regarding his performance, he continued: “I didn’t think last year was a disaster, still fifteen strikes, fourteen setups, but I understand the general feeling was that it was worse. But I was a contributor to 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 caliber like the first year. Now I’ve had my operation, a new manager, he’s got that system, how we intend to play…. You have to learn from it.”
