It may not have been a classic encounter, the roar from the Santiago Bernabéu was unmistakable. After a long wait, Jude Bellingham once again stood before the south end with his arms wide open, basking in the crowd's singing of Hey Jude. After a lengthy layoff and questions about his position, he netted his opening strike of the campaign, ultimately delivering a 1-0 victory for Real Madrid over a Juventus side that made them work hard. “We had to sweat for it,” stated the Belgian goalkeeper.
Key Saves Ensure the Victory
Courtois understood better than anyone, having to save a one-on-one from the Serbian striker and make another decisive save from Khéphren Thuram in the final minute. The win leaves Madrid on a strong tally and the opposition team below the cut. At the end of a match with more shots than fluid football, the visiting coach may consider a promising opening, with those saves representing a missed chance around the closing stages; the team's reality however presents concerning reading.
“A side from Italy in trouble is twice as dangerous,” the Madrid coach had remarked in advance.
Juventus, who were without a victory since September, posed Madrid issues at the beginning and once more near the end. Madrid commanded the ball, with a significant advantage, but Juventus threatened on the break, especially with the French defender surging forward and the striker linking up, managing a dozen attempts compared to the home side's 27.
Strong Opening for Visitors
They had started well, without a doubt. Within three minutes, they thought they were in front, the forward a little unfortunate to be called for pulling Éder Militão. Shortly after, Raúl Asencio had to intervene in front of Vlahović when Kalulu dashed clear on the right. Then three minutes after that, Weston McKennie's shot was deflected wide.
What followed, from the defender's drive, was a more impressive save. Fifteen minutes had gone. That said, soon the Italians' momentum had dissipated as well. Madrid assumed command. Largely it was rather mechanical, however, and the three best opportunities fell to the French midfielder, who wouldn’t be the coach's preferred forward. Two were headed over, a third deflected wide; an additional headed opportunity was missed by the center-back.
Guler Shines
Most creative play came from the young Turk. The Turk, whose football was the nearest thing there was to fluidity, was constantly in the action. His neat stop and turn saw him deliver to the far post for Bellingham.
Little was seen of the French superstar early on, but when he did appear it was the nearest Madrid got to scoring. First his shot was stopped by the Juventus keeper, who would make eight saves. Then some exquisite dribbling saw him evade Andrea Cambiaso repeatedly until he tumbled to the turf and set up his teammate to fire over.
Second-Half Drama
The Brazilian threw himself to stop Kalulu at the start of the second half, and then came the customary save from the keeper when unexpectedly Vlahović was away. The “inadvertent pass” had been remarkable, with the defender cutting out a ball inside his own area and the ball bouncing from the instep of his boot right through the middle to beyond the halfway line. Sprinting after it, ample room appearing, Vlahović outpaced his marker, using his strength and advancing into the area where Courtois made the stop.
Next the usual pattern occurred, the save 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 low, left-footed shot which hit the upright. Lurking in that striker’s role was the goalscorer. The breakthrough found, Madrid should have finished it, Mbappé stopped by Di Gregorio and the Uruguayan seeing his volley deflected by Gatti. Subsequently Di Gregorio made a brilliant double stop from Mbappé and the attacking midfielder.
There were more scares: as the match was drawing to a close, Raúl Asencio had to make a stunning sliding block as Madrid were opened up and at the risk of Loïs Openda unmarked in the area. Then in the final seconds Courtois flew in to deny Thuram, his work complete. For the visitors, there was no way back, the opening goal of the season the last of the encounter.
“I'm overjoyed, a long time now since I’ve scored, a lot of time out and thinking of that instant, returning in the Champions League and against a big team. To score a winner, in our stadium, it’s incredible. I felt comfortable, excellent. To play well was important and to score the winning goal helps the team a lot.”
Regarding his performance, he added: “It wasn't that last year was a disaster, still fifteen strikes, fourteen setups, but I understand the perception was that it was worse. But I was a contributor to that, how we didn’t play as well last year, there were nonetheless good moments but not the standard 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 shape, how we intend to play…. You have to learn from it.”
