Jude Bellingham scored his first goal of the season to give Real Madrid all three points after a closely-fought 1-0 victory over Juventus in the Champions League.
Bellingham struck shortly before the hour-mark at the Bernabeu to open his account for the campaign and maintain Los Blancos’ 100% record in the competition this season.
But it was by no means a straightforward affair in the Spanish capital, with Juventus squandering several good chances.
It was, however, the hosts who emerged victorious in this meeting between two European footballing giants.
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How the action unfolded
Thibaut Courtois was making his 300th appearance for Los Blancos in all competitions, with Iker Casillas (725), Paco Buyo (456) and Miguel Ángel (346) the only Real keepers to have played more games.
However, neither the towering Belgian nor his counterpart in the Juventus goal, Michele Di Gregorio, were overly tested in a first 45 that saw the Serie A side begin brightly but fade, and the hosts fail to capitalise on their growing dominance.
However, moments after the restart, and very much against the run of play, Juventus had an opportunity to take a shock lead.
Dusan Vlahovic got the better of Militao when racing for the ball and the Serbian unleashed a shot that required a vital stop from Courtois with his leg.
Bellingham breaks the deadlock
The chance seemed to snap Madrid back into life, with Xabi Alonso’s men upping the tempo in search of a breakthrough.
And sure enough, they found such an opening on 58 minutes courtesy of Bellingham.
The England man reacted quickest after Vincius Junior’s left-foot shot came back off the post and supplied the simplest of finishes to smash the ball home from close range.
Madrid were purring. Federico Valverde flashed a fierce volley off target before Di Gregorio produced an fine double-stop to first deny Kylian Mbappe and then
Brahim Diaz.
Late on, Lois Openda found himself completely free in the Madrid box with time to line up a shot. However, the Juventus man’s effort was blocked wonderfully by Raul Asencio.
The visitors had a flurry of corners deep into stoppage time, but it proved too little too late and Real held on to maintain their perfect start in the Champions League.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: 101greatgoals.com
