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It may not have been a classic encounter, the chanting from the Santiago Bernabéu was unmistakable. After a long wait, Jude Bellingham finally stood before the south end with his arms wide open, listening to the crowd's singing of Hey Jude. After a shoulder injury and questions about his role, he scored his first goal of the campaign, eventually delivering a 1-0 victory for Real Madrid over a Italian opponent that put up a fight. “We had to sweat for it,” stated the Belgian goalkeeper.

Decisive Stops Ensure the Win

The shot-stopper understood better than anyone, having to save a clear chance from Dušan Vlahović and make another crucial save from the French midfielder in the final minute. This result leaves Madrid on a strong tally and Igor Tudor’s team outside the qualifying spots. After a game with more shots than fluid football, the Juventus manager may reflect on a decent start, with those saves representing a missed chance around the 85-minute mark; their current situation though presents worrying statistics.

“An Italian team in trouble is twice as dangerous,” the Madrid coach had warned in advance.

The Turin-based club, which were without a victory since last month, did cause Madrid problems at the beginning and once more near the end. Madrid dominated the ball, 66%-34%, but Juventus threatened on the break, particularly with the French defender running and Vlahović linking up, firing off a dozen attempts compared to the hosts' twenty-seven.

Strong Opening for Away Side

The visitors began brightly, certainly. Within three minutes, they believed they were ahead, the forward a little unfortunate to be penalized for pulling Éder Militão. Shortly after, Raúl Asencio had to intervene ahead of him when the wing-back dashed clear on the right flank. And soon after, the American midfielder's shot was deflected wide.

Next, from Federico Gatti's powerful strike, was a more impressive save. A quarter of an hour had passed. That said, quickly the visitors' impetus had faded as well. Madrid assumed command. Mostly it was all a bit functional, though, and the top chances came to Aurélien Tchouaméni, who is not the coach's preferred forward. Two were off target, a third took a deflection; an additional chance with the head was missed by Militão.

Guler Shines

The best moments came from Arda Güler. Güler, whose football was the nearest thing there was to fluidity, was constantly in the action. His clever control and spin saw him deliver to the far post for the Englishman.

Little was seen of Kylian Mbappé early on, but when he finally emerged it was the closest Madrid got to scoring. First his shot was denied by Michele Di Gregorio, who would make eight saves. Then some exquisite dribbling saw him evade the full-back twice until he went down to the turf and laid off to Militão to fire over.

Late Tension

Militão threw himself to stop Kalulu at the start of the second period, and then came the customary save from the keeper when suddenly Vlahović was away. The “inadvertent pass” had been quite something, with Lloyd Kelly intercepting a pass inside his own penalty box and the sphere bouncing from the instep of his boot directly through the middle to past the halfway line. Sprinting after it, ample room appearing, the striker raced Militão, using his strength and advancing into the area where Courtois made the stop.

Next the usual pattern occurred, the stop compensated for by the goal that comes after it. A flash from Vinícius Júnior set up it, creating enough space amid four men to release a low, left-footed shot which struck the post. Positioned in that forward position was the goalscorer. With the deadlock broken, Madrid should have finished it, Mbappé denied by Di Gregorio and the Uruguayan seeing his volley blocked by Gatti. Then Di Gregorio made a superb quick saves from the forward and Brahim Díaz.

It was not the only one: as the match was drawing to a close, the defender had to make a stunning sliding block as Madrid were exposed and at the mercy of the substitute unmarked in the penalty box. Then in the final seconds the Madrid keeper dived to stop the midfielder, his job complete. For the visitors, there was no route to a comeback, the opening goal of the season the last of the encounter.

“It’s a great feeling, a while now since I’ve found the net, a period out and thinking of that moment, returning in the Champions League and against a major opponent. To score a winner, in our stadium, it’s incredible. I was at ease, excellent. To perform was important and to net the match-winner helps the team greatly.”

As for his performance, he added: “It wasn't that last year was a disaster, still 15 goals, 14 assists, but I know the perception was that it was worse. But I was a part of that, how we underperformed last year, there were nonetheless positive spells but not the level I want to play at, not the level like the debut season. Now I’ve had my shoulder surgery, a new manager, he’s got that system, how we want to play…. You have to learn from it.”