Bellingham hits last-gasp winner as Real Madrid fight back to beat Barcelona
This is getting really, really ridiculous. “There have been so many classic games, so many magic moments,”Jude Bellinghamsaid on the eve of his first appearance in the biggest match on earth and now he has one of his own, another absurd comic-book moment in an absurd-comic start to his Real Madrid career. With the Rolling Stones’ iconic tongue logo adorning the red and blue shirt of the home side, and Mick Jagger in the directors’ box, someone put Hey Jude on again. Not once, but twice.
And as for iconic: how about this? It was just after 6pm, the sun starting to dip behind the stand, when he stood in the corner of the Olympic Stadium in Montjuic and opened his arms wide once more. They were into added time and Bellingham had just slipped in behind theBarcelonadefence to nudge the ball past Marc-André ter Stegen to score his 10th league goal of his debut season in Spain, and in theclásicono less. Nor was it just the winner: he had also scored an extraordinary equaliser to give Madrid hope in the first place.
Bellingham’s was the last dash into the area. His had also been the first into the area, taking the ball of Andreas Christensen and setting off only two minutes in, but it was Barcelona who made the better start. Not just with the opening goal – the earliest they had scored in aclásicothis century – but in the flow of the game. There was an intensity about them and a passivity to Madrid that was revealed in the moment the home side took the lead, Ilkay Gündogan allowed to carry the ball a long way through the midfield until he reached the edge of the area.
When the ball was returned to him to continue his run, David Alaba slid in to cut it out and got there first but, rather than clear it, he only managed to make it sit up even more invitingly. On the bounce, Gündogan slipped it past Kepa.
Gavi was superb, so too was the 20-year-old Fermín López, making only his third start of the season. He hit a post after Gavi had snapped into Toni Kroos to win the ball, sliced another shot wide form the edge of the box and appeared all over the right side pitch. Playing in Spain’s third tier last year, here he was in theclásicoand looking entirely at home, even out-Kroosing Kroos at times. João Félix meanwhile found Dani Carvajal blocking most of his advances but there were flashes too, a neat exchange with AlejandroBalde taking them into the area after half an hour.
An Araújo delivery very nearly found its target at the far post, and the Uruguayan then appealed for a penalty after he tumbled in the box. Gavi too was down, this time on the edge of the area just as he swiped at a shot. That though was nothing compared to the moment when Vinícius dashed free on the right just before half-time. Ferran Torres, aware of what this might mean, came flying across and rugby tackled him off the pitch.
