JUDE BELLINGHAM scored a scintillating screamer AND a last minute winner in his first El Clasico to down Barcelona in their own backyard.
Los Blancos were staring at their second defeat of the season after Ilkay Gundogan’s sixth minute opener.
But up stepped Madrid’s English golden boy with a world class strike from around 20 yards to level the score after 68 minutes.
And then, in the dying seconds, Bellingham poked home Luka Modric’s miscontrolled touch in the box to silence Barca’s Olympic Stadium with his trademark outstretched celebration.
In short, one of the best players on the planet currently single-handedly stole the headlines in the biggest game in world football.
It is now 13 goals in 13 games for Bellingham in Spain – remarkably, that’s more than Real Madrid royalty Zinedine Zidane ever managed in a single season.
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And the scary thing is, he doesn’t look like stopping.
Barcelona came into this one with a mounting injury list, but good news in the shape of Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha returning to the bench.
Meanwhile, Madrid looked to be starting with Vinicius Jr. down the middle and Bellingham in a high, left wing position.
Barca started the stronger and were rewarded inside the first 10 minutes with Gundogan’s opener thanks to some slack Madrid defending.
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The ex-Manchester City midfielder’s through ball found no one but Madrid’s back line stood and watched as Gundogan latched onto his own pass, powering through David Alaba before slotting past Kepa.
He celebrated in Barca’s jersey which bore the Rolling Stones logo on it for the day – thanks to the club’s collaboration with Spotify.
Mick Jagger and Ronnie Wood were both in attendance to mark the occasion and were probably the only two Englishmen not cheering on England’s 20-year-old wonderkid for this game.
A frustrated Bellingham dropped deeper to pick up the ball from Toni Kroos, yet the hosts did well to crowd him out in midfield.
Madrid looked shaky. Kroos lost the ball outside his own box and Fermin Lopez struck the post with an effort.
Bellingham looked desperate to make an impact, and so decided to use his brute force with some hefty challenges to try and inspire some attacking threat from his teammates.
Instead, the game turned spiky, as Vinicius Jr had words with Barca boss Xavi by the technical area, the latter laughing it off with a playful slap of the Brazilian’s cheek.
It wasn’t just the Catalan legend getting physical, as Andreas Christensen and Gavi both took turns to wipe out Bellingham whenever he got a sniff of the ball.
Ancelotti responded after the break by bringing on Eduardo Camavinga to allow Bellingham more freedom to roam, yet Barca continued to defend the Englishman well while also forcing Kepa into a few good stops.
The introduction of Lewandowski was met with rapturous applause on the hour mark, while Ancelotti chucked on Luka Modric and Joselu.
And then, the moment. Out of nothing, with the game slipping away, Bellingham picked up the ball on the edge of the box and decided to silence the Olympic Stadium with a screamer from around 20 yards into the top corner.
No celebration. No outstretched arms. He simply ran back to the halfway line ushering his teammates to do the same, while pointing to the new badge he has grown to adore, and they adore him.
With the visiting Madrid fans in rapture, the camera cut to a seriously dejected looking Mick Jagger in the stands.
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Even Ronnie Wood’s words of comfort for Jagger couldn’t lift his spirits as it became clear the tide of the Clasico had emphatically changed.
That equaliser rattled Barca, and lifted Real to be more decisive on the ball. All they needed was a moment, and they got it thanks to you-know-who in injury time.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
