Saturday 28 / December / 2024
BARCELONA: Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham turned out to be the hero as he scored an incredible equaliser and a 92nd-minute winner to help Real Madrid come from behind to beat rivals Barcelona 2-1 on his first El Clasico appearance at Barcelona on Saturday.
Ilkay Gundogan's first Barca goal put the hosts ahead after six minutes.
But Bellingham smashed a sensational leveller in the 68th minute, finding the top corner from 30 yards out. The England midfielder then netted an injury-time volley to continue his fairytale start to his Real career.
Bellingham, 20, now has 13 goals in 16 matches for club and country this season.
It was out of keeping with an underwhelming performance from Carlo Ancelotti’s side, who had trailed at the Monjuic stadium – Barca’s temporary ground this season due to ongoing work at the Camp Nou – after Gundogan’s early strike for the Catalan side, who were on top for most of the game.
The home side were without a host of stars for the clash including midfield duo Frenkie de Jong and Pedri with Oriol Romeu surprisingly not named in the starting line-up. Meanwhile Robert Lewandowski and Jules Kounde were among others who were only fit enough for a place on the bench.
Aside from long-term absentees Thibaut Courtois and Eder Militao, Real Madrid were at full strength but were second best throughout the opening half in which Barca dominated. It took Gundogan just six minutes to break the deadlock and score his first goal for the club.
The German international had attempted to play a one-two with Ferran Torres, and although Aurelien Tchouameni got a touch to intercept the move, it only diverted the ball towards goal with Gundogan making the most of David Alaba’s inability to clear to find space for a shot into the net.
Gundogan has now scored in Der Klassiker, the Manchester derby and El Clasico, having also scored against Bayern Munich and Manchester United for Borussia Dortmund and Manchester City respectively. At 33 years and four days old, Gundogan is now second only to Sergio Aguero – 33 years and 144 days – to be the Blaugrana’s oldest scorer in the fixture against their fiercest rivals this century.
Although neither side had another shot on target for the remainder of the half, it was Barca who had the better chances – Joao Felix broke through on goal but was denied by Real Madrid captain Dani Carvajal, who was his side’s most impressive player in the first half.
The visitor’s struggles were summed up by their only sights at goal coming through full-back Carvajal from a tight angle and a long-range drive from Antonio Rudiger, which predictably did not trouble Ter Stegen. Ancelotti’s frustrations with his side were clear throughout, including asking Jude Bellingham to move more centrally because he was missing in his original position of left midfield.
The second half was more open as Madrid came to life, although it was the home side who came closest to finding the net again; Inigo Martinez’s header hitting the post before Kepa Arrizabalaga saved the follow-up from Ronald Araujo. Tchouameni then tried his luck for Madrid, but his long-range effort was palmed away by Ter Stegen.
Minutes later, the German goalkeeper could do nothing to stop Bellingham’s effort – which found the top corner following the midfielder’s stunning shot from range as the home side left him with too much time on the ball. That stunned the home side, who continued to push for a second but struggled to create any clear cut chances.
There was still time for Bellingham to deliver another decisive moment, as he burst through into the penalty area to deliver an injury-time volley to continue his fairy-tale start to his Madrid career, breaking Barcelona hearts and delighting the visitors. (With inputs from agencies)
