It may not have been a match for the ages, 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 outstretched, listening to the fans' singing of his anthem. After a lengthy layoff and uncertainty about his role, he netted his opening strike of the season, ultimately securing a 1-0 victory for Real Madrid over a Juventus side that put up a fight. “It was a tough battle,” commented the Belgian goalkeeper.
Decisive Stops Ensure the Win
Courtois knew perfectly well, having to save a clear chance from the Serbian striker and produce another crucial save from the French midfielder in the final minute. This result puts Madrid on a strong tally and the opposition team outside the qualifying spots. After a match with more shots than fluid football, the visiting coach may reflect on a decent start, with those saves representing a wasted moment around the closing stages; their current situation though makes for concerning reading.
“An Italian team in difficulty is doubly threatening,” the Madrid coach had remarked in advance.
Juventus, which hadn’t won since September, posed Madrid issues at the beginning and again near the end. Madrid commanded possession, with a significant advantage, but Juventus were dangerous on the counter, particularly with Pierre Kalulu surging forward and the striker combining, managing 12 shots compared to the home side's 27.
Strong Opening for Away Side
The visitors began brightly, without a doubt. After just three minutes, they believed they were in front, the forward somewhat unlucky to be called for pulling the Brazilian defender. Three minutes later, Raúl Asencio had to slide in front of him when the wing-back dashed clear on the right. Then three minutes after that, Weston McKennie's effort was deflected wide.
What followed, from Federico Gatti's powerful strike, was a even better stop. Fifteen minutes had gone. However, soon the visitors' impetus had faded as well. Madrid assumed command. Mostly it was all a bit functional, though, and the top chances came to the French midfielder, who wouldn’t be Alonso’s striker of choice. Two were headed over, a third one took a deflection; an additional headed opportunity was missed by Militão.
Guler Shines
Most creative play were provided by Arda Güler. Güler, whose play was the closest there was to smooth attacking, was constantly in the action. His clever control and spin saw him clip to the far post for Bellingham.
There was not much sign of the French superstar early on, but when he did appear it was the nearest Madrid came to scoring. Initially his attempt was stopped by Michele Di Gregorio, who would produce eight saves. Then some lovely fast footwork saw him evade the full-back repeatedly until he tumbled to the ground and set up his teammate to fire over.
Late Tension
Militão threw himself to halt Kalulu at the start of the second half, and then came the regulation save from the keeper when suddenly the attacker was through. The “inadvertent pass” had been quite something, with Lloyd Kelly intercepting a pass inside his own penalty box and the sphere deflecting from the instep of his foot directly through the center to past the halfway line. Sprinting after it, huge space appearing, the striker raced his marker, holding him off and heading into the box where the keeper made the stop.
Next what tends to happen happened, the save made good by the goal that follows it. A burst from Vinícius Júnior created it, working himself enough room amid four men to release a driven effort which struck the upright. Positioned in that striker’s role was the goalscorer. The breakthrough found, Madrid ought to have sealed the game, Mbappé stopped by Di Gregorio and the Uruguayan seeing his volley deflected by Gatti. Then Di Gregorio 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, the defender had to make a incredible last-ditch tackle as Madrid were exposed and at the risk of the substitute unmarked in the area. Then in the dying moments Courtois flew in to deny the midfielder, his job done. For Juve, there was no route to a comeback, the opening goal of the season the final of the encounter.
“I'm overjoyed, a long time now since I’ve found the net, a lot of time out and dreaming of that instant, back in the elite competition and against a big team. To score a winner, in our stadium, it’s incredible. I felt comfortable, excellent. To play well was crucial and to score the winning goal benefits the team a lot.”
Regarding his form, he added: “It wasn't that last year was a failure, with fifteen strikes, fourteen setups, but I understand the perception was that it was poorer. But I was a contributor to that, how we didn’t play as well last year, there were nonetheless positive spells but not the standard I aim to play at, not the caliber like the first year. Now I’ve had my shoulder surgery, a new manager, he’s got that shape, how we intend to play…. You have to learn from it.”
