Bellingham saves poor Real Madrid in El Clasico vs. Barca،
BARCELONA, Spain – Real Madrid emerged as winners of Saturday’s Clasico against Barcelona thanks to the heroics of Jude Bellingham, whose two goals canceled out an early Barça goal at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys.
With this result, Barcelona suffers their first defeat of the La Liga season and falls to third place in the table as Real Madrid fight their way back to first place. Real Madrid’s comeback from being down a goal at halftime is the first such rally in El Clasico since 1988.
Barcelona initially seemed to move in front of their home crowd, taking an early lead thanks to a goal from Ilkay Gündogan in the sixth minute. That’s when The Jude Bellingham Show began.
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First, the England midfielder scored with a superb, thunderous shot in the 68th minute. Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen barely got a hand on it, but the speed and power behind it was too much. Then, in stoppage time, Bellingham scored the winning goal. Dani Carvajal crossed the ball into the box, and Luka Modric put a toe on it, bouncing it towards goal, and Bellingham pounced, placing it beyond Ter Stegen.
Here is the reaction from Alex Kirkland and Sam Marsden, present at Saturday’s match in Spain:
Real Madrid was silent – until Bellingham wasn’t
In the end, of course, it was all about Jude Bellingham. La Liga’s best player this season had kept a low profile during the Clasico – his individual performance reflected Real Madrid’s understated collective – but when his moment came, he delivered in the most emphatic way possible.
In the 68th minute, with Madrid trailing 1-0, Gavi’s header fell to Bellingham outside the Barcelona box. He took two touches, one to control the ball on the turn, the next to flick it out from under his feet, before firing a vicious shot past Ter Stegen. It was his ninth La Liga goal – his 12th in all competitions for Madrid – and it was his best, in the biggest game of them all.
And there was more. In the 92nd minute, he was there in the penalty area, passing Ter Stegen for the winner. Ten goals in the league for the number 10 of Real Madrid: another challenge met and the Clasico won at the first attempt.
Before that, Madrid had been disappointing at Montjuic. They fell behind early on – unconvincing defending from Aurélien Tchouaméni and David Alaba allowing Gundogan in – and despite this there was no reaction. If Madrid had a plan to come back strong, it was not obvious. They seemed lacking in energy, unforgivable in a match of this magnitude and short of ideas. In contrast, Barça looked focused, calm and solid defensively, justifying coach Xavi Hernandez’s decision to go with three central defenders, with Ronald Araújo helping out against Madrid’s Vinícius Júnior.
Madrid didn’t have a single shot on target in the first half. Antonio Rüdiger’s wildly optimistic shot from distance, fired well over the bar midway through the half, was iconic. They struggled to create danger, to place Vinícius, Rodrygo Goes or Federico Valverde in positions where they could hurt Barça. Bellingham was also silent. The team immediately improved when Eduardo Camavinga replaced the unnamed Ferland Mendy in the 52nd minute. There was finally a spark, an urgency and a direction. Toni Kroos scored his first shot on goal, comfortably saved by Ter Stegen, after an hour.
Manager Carlo Ancelotti introduced Luka Modric and Joselu, pushing Madrid to equalize, but when it happened it was down to one man, with Bellingham striking out of nowhere. Bellingham started this season scoring poacher goals, negating the team’s lack of a centre-forward. Apparently he can now score wherever he wants.
For Bellingham’s first field goal here, it was from 31 yards out, the second-longest field goal of his career. It was a ball hit out of anger, perhaps out of frustration. There was no outstretched arms celebration. Instead, he turned around and ran straight towards the center circle, all busy, ready to start again. And then in injury time, he did it. This time, the celebrations were exhilarating.
Barca’s collapse after good start shows there is still work to do
Barcelona will be wondering how this one slipped through their fingers.
They were the better team early on, with Xavi’s decision to play three central and full backs working well. The Barca boss would have taken great satisfaction from his side’s first-half performance, with Vinicius and Bellingham linking up well and Gundogan’s goal giving the home side a deserved lead.
However, Xavi will be frustrated with the way Barca let Madrid back into the game after the break as they were beaten for the first time in La Liga this season, leaving them four points behind co-leaders Madrid and Girona.
Fitness concerns had dominated Barca’s preparation for the first Clasico of the season. In the end, Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Jules Koundé were deemed fit enough to return to the bench, but it came too soon for Frenkie de Jong, Pedri and Sergi Roberto.
Despite this, Barça impressed from the start. Gundogan’s goal gave them a sixth-minute lead and they should have added a second. Fermín López, one of the revelations of the season, hit the post. João Félix then lingered on the ball after making a superb nutmeg on Rüdiger, allowing Carvajal to make a brilliant challenge.
More opportunities presented themselves after the break. Iñigo Martínez headed Fermín’s cross against the post and goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga saved Ronald Araujo’s rebound. On the hour mark, Lewandowski was introduced as Xavi looked to kill the game and overtake Madrid in the table. João Cancelo then saw an effort deflected wide before Los Blancos began to ask Barça a few questions.
Tchouaméni’s long ranger, deflected by Ter Stegen, served as a warning and a few minutes later, Bellingham equalized Madrid from distance. Lewandowski almost restored Barça’s lead but, just as the match seemed destined to be a draw, Bellingham reappeared, converting Carvajal’s cross in stoppage time.
It was supposed to be the Rolling Stones’ Clásico. Their logo adorned Barca’s jerseys as part of the club’s sponsorship deal with Spotify and Mick Jagger and Ronnie Wood sat in the directors’ box. The soundtrack, however, as has often been the case in Madrid this season, was ultimately provided by a Beatles song: “Hey Jude”.
The defeat will hurt Barça but it should not derail their season. This happened in difficult circumstances with several players absent or unfit and a four-point gap to the leaders after 11 games is not a disaster. However, he also stressed there was still work to do at both ends of the pitch after they failed to add a second before fading in the final 20 minutes.
