It may not have been a match for the ages, the roar from the Madrid's home stadium was familiar. Having been absent for some time, Jude Bellingham finally found himself before the home supporters with his arms outstretched, basking in the fans' singing of his anthem. After a lengthy layoff and questions about his role, he netted his opening strike of the campaign, eventually delivering a 1-0 victory for Real Madrid over a Juventus side that put up a fight. “We had to sweat for it,” stated the Belgian goalkeeper.
Key Saves Ensure the Victory
The shot-stopper knew perfectly well, having to rescue a one-on-one from Dušan Vlahović and produce another decisive stop from the French midfielder in the final minute. This result puts Madrid on a strong tally and Igor Tudor’s team outside the qualifying spots. At the end of a match with plenty of attempts but little elegance, the visiting coach may reflect on a promising opening, with those saves representing a missed chance around the closing stages; the team's reality though makes for concerning reading.
“An Italian team in difficulty is twice as dangerous,” the Madrid coach had warned in advance.
Juventus, which hadn’t won since last month, did cause Madrid issues at the beginning and once more near the end. Madrid dominated the ball, 66%-34%, but Juventus were dangerous on the counter, particularly with Pierre Kalulu surging forward and Vlahović combining, firing off 12 shots 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, the forward somewhat unfortunate to be called for pulling the Brazilian defender. Shortly after, the Madrid defender had to intervene ahead of him when the wing-back broke free on the right flank. Then soon after, Weston McKennie's effort was pushed wide.
What followed, from the defender's powerful strike, was a more impressive stop. Fifteen minutes had gone. That said, soon the visitors' impetus had faded too. Madrid took control. Largely it was all a bit functional, however, and the three best opportunities fell to Aurélien Tchouaméni, who wouldn’t be the coach's preferred forward. A couple were headed over, a third one took a deflection; an additional chance with the head was wasted by the center-back.
Guler Shines
The best moments were provided by the young Turk. Güler, whose play was the closest there was to smooth attacking, was always involved. His neat stop and turn saw him deliver to the far post for Bellingham.
Little was seen of Kylian Mbappé yet, but when he did appear it was the closest Madrid got to scoring. First his attempt was stopped by the Juventus keeper, who would produce several stops. Then some exquisite dribbling saw him turn Andrea Cambiaso twice until he tumbled to the ground and set up his teammate to blast over.
Second-Half Drama
The Brazilian threw himself to stop the runner at the outset of the second period, and then came the customary Courtois rescue when suddenly the attacker was away. The “inadvertent pass” had been remarkable, with the defender cutting out a ball inside his own area and the sphere deflecting from the inside of his foot directly through the middle to past the center circle. Racing after it, ample room appearing, Vlahović raced Militão, holding him off and heading into the area where the keeper saved.
Next what tends to happen occurred, the save compensated for by the score that comes after it. A burst from Vinícius Júnior set up it, working himself enough space amid four men to release a low, left-footed shot which hit the post. Lurking in that forward position was the goalscorer. The breakthrough found, Madrid should have finished it, Mbappé stopped by Di Gregorio and the Uruguayan seeing his half-volley blocked by Gatti. Subsequently Di Gregorio made a superb quick saves from Mbappé and the attacking midfielder.
It was not the only one: as the game was slipping away, the defender had to make a stunning sliding block as Madrid were opened up and at the mercy of the substitute momentarily alone in the penalty box. Finally in the dying moments the Madrid keeper flew in to deny the midfielder, his job done. For Juve, there was no route to a comeback, the opening goal of the campaign the last of the encounter.
“I'm overjoyed, a while 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 get the decisive goal, here at home, it’s unbelievable. I was at ease, really good. To play well was important and to net the match-winner benefits the team greatly.”
As for his form, he continued: “I didn’t think last year was a disaster, still 15 goals, 14 assists, 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 caliber like the first year. 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.”
