Real Madrid scored two goals in the second half to earn a 2-1 victory away at Barcelona in the first La Liga Clasico that Jude Bellingham had the opportunity to play in.
After Ilkay Gundogan had given the hosts Barcelona the lead with a goal at the Olympic Stadium, the England international fired a rocket into the top corner from a considerable distance with his Madrid career off to a great start in terms of his goalscoring form.
The Barcelona supporters were stunned as Bellingham scored a second goal deep into stoppage time to bring his total for the season to 10 goals in the top league.
Bellingham, the top striker in La Liga, is in unstoppable form and inevitably made his mark in his debut Clasico. Barcelona had the better of the game and hit the woodwork twice, but Bellingham scored the game-winning goal.
The brace scored by Bellingham propelled Real Madrid to the top of the La Liga standings, moving them ahead of Girona in terms of goal difference and giving both teams a four-point lead over Barcelona in the standings.
Ancelotti remarked of Madrid’s 20-year-old game-winner that “He seems like a veteran… the goal to level it totally changed the game,” and he was referring to the young player who scored the winning goal.
“What was surprising today was his shot, he’s always arriving in the box, today he scored a stupendous goal from in front of the area.”
Robert Lewandowski, Jules Kounde, and Raphinha all made their comebacks from injuries for Barcelona, and Xavi named all three of them to the bench for the match. However, Frenkie de Jong and Pedri were unable to recuperate in time for the match.
His adversary Carlo Ancelotti made the decision to play Ferland Mendy at left back rather than Eduardo Camavinga or Fran Garcia. Bellingham was utilised once again in the number 10 role as he received his first taste of what is perhaps the most important club football match in the world.
Gundogan, a midfielder who joined Barcelona over the summer and made his debut in El Clasico for the first time, was the one to break the tie and score the game’s only goal.
The former player for Manchester City was at his best when Aurelien Tchouameni stole the ball from Ferran Torres and sent it back into his own territory by way of an interception.
Central defender In the sixth minute of play, Gundogan read David Alaba’s intentions, leaped onto the ball, and then swept the ball past Kepa Arrizabalaga. David Alaba’s attempt to clear was very unconvincing, and Gundogan capitalised on it.
The Post refutes the Barca
After Gavi made a strong effort to regain possession of the ball by pressing up and to the side in an aggressive manner, one of the up-and-coming young players from Barcelona’s La Masia programme, Fermin Lopez, slammed a shot against the post.
While Madrid were being kept off by the home team, Madrid defender Antonio Rudiger blasted a shot from nearly 40 yards out that went wide. Meanwhile, Madrid winger Vinicius Junior got into tangles with Gavi and Ronald Araujo, who were placed at right-back to try to shackle Vinicius Junior.
After the Brazilian was barged by Araujo, he protested, and Xavi told him that it was merely a shoulder charge. However, the Barcelona coach was unable to defend Ferran Torres’ rugby tackle on Vinicius shortly before the half, which resulted in his receiving a yellow card.
Joao Cancelo’s more advanced position allowed Barcelona to have greater defensive protection, and Gavi, Gundogan, and Lopez controlled play in the middle of the pitch.
In the second half, Barcelona’s Inigo Martinez headed Lopez’s inch-perfect cross against the post early on, and Arrizabalaga made a save from Araujo in the immediate aftermath of the miss.
Madrid were forced to shoot from long range, but ultimately one of their shots found its way into the back of the net to tie the game with little over 20 minutes left to play.
Marc-Andre ter Stegen made a diving save to deny a Tchouameni piledriver, but he was unable to stop Bellingham’s blast, which tied the game for Real Madrid after they had been having trouble gaining a foothold in it.
Bellingham made a decisive play as the game was trending towards an unsatisfactory tie for both teams. He was in the right spot at the right moment to shoot through Ter Stegen’s legs after Luka Modric deflected Dani Carvajal’s cross into his path.
“I’m not someone who evaluates the opposition team, he scored two goals, he did it for Real Madrid and he changed the game,” Ter Stegen told reporters on DAZN.
“We had it, the game, going in our favour and we didn’t know how to keep it that way.”