Inevitable Jude Bellingham! Author of a double, the 20-year-old English prodigy allowed Real Madrid to overthrow their rivals FC Barcelona (2-1) on their lawn on Saturday in the Clasico, allowing the Merengue to regain the lead in La Liga. Well contained throughout the match, Bellingham was again present in the right place at the right time in the 92nd minute, to offer the three points to the Madrilenians, who overtook Girona at the top of the Spanish championship. Real is now four points ahead of its rival and evening opponent, third.
Perfect start to the match for the Barcelonans
In a warm atmosphere in the heart of a sunny afternoon at the start of autumn, and under the eyes of the Rolling Stones Mick Jagger and Ron Wood, the Catalans had nevertheless offered the public of the Olympic stadium of Montjuic, which hosted its first clasico, a perfect start to the match.
Dominant despite the absences of Lewandowski, Pedri and De Jong, and well established in a 4-3-3 system which evolved into 3-4-3 or 3-5-2 in the offensive phase, the Blaugrana took the advantage from the 6th minute on their first constructed action. Barcelona summer recruit Ilkay Gündogan deceived Kepa from the right with a little success after a press on Ferran Torres in the axis, countered by Tchouameni (6th, 1-0).
The German midfielder’s first goal since his free arrival from Manchester City, where he was already used to being decisive in big matches.
Failed attempts for Barça
The Madrilenians were quickly suffocated and taken by the physical impact imposed by the Catalans, the referee allowing a lot of play when he judged that the contacts were light. A little too much, for the taste of Vinicius and Bellingham, who protested on several occasions after solid interventions from Gavi and Araujo, always on the verge of fault. On one of Gavi’s rough recoveries at the feet of Kroos, Fermin Lopez almost made the break from the right but found the post (16th).
Ter Stegen was not more worried than that, apart from a distant attempt from Rüdiger on the side (22nd) and a half-volley from Carvajal into the small outside net (37th). The first alert on the Catalan side came from a shot from Rodrygo which grazed the post at the start of the second half. Barça then failed to hit the nail on the head, Martinez once again hitting the post with his head, before Araujo, who had followed well, came up against Kepa (51st).
A Miracle Named Bellingham
On the verge of a knockout, the Merengue needed a miracle, and it obviously came from English prodigy Jude Bellingham, scorer in his first Clasico. The 20-year-old midfielder relaunched his side with a missile from the right from 25 meters (69th, 1-1), before doubling the lead in added time and plunging the Olympic stadium into cathedral silence following a involuntary deviation from Modric (91st, 2-1).
With this double and his ninth and tenth goals of the season, Bellingham confirms his status as the new “Galactic” and his place as top scorer in the championship, managing to compensate for the departure of Karim Benzema on a statistical level while he plays in the middle of ground. Above all, he continues to exceed expectations – although immense – following his transfer for 103 million euros from Dortmund this summer.