Bellingham ends El Clasico with Real Madrid’s winning goal against Barcelona | La Liga

The league started and ended with Jude Bellingham. Back in August, the Englishman stood in front of the stands, the place they call the cathedral, with arms outstretched and announced his arrival by scoring on the first night of his remaining life. Now, eight months later, he has done it again, welcoming all 77,981 players to the Santiago Bernabeu, along with millions more around the world. It has become a trademark, it means a title.

With 90 minutes remaining in the world’s biggest game and the score 2-2, Lucas Vazquez, who had been working tirelessly all night, delivered the final pass to the far post and Bellingham, the The season will always be his. He thundered at the far post, blasting the ball into the roof of the net for the first time with his left foot and sending the place into a frenzy. This was his 17th league goal and the one that sealed the title. And he did it the Real Madrid way. The more epic, the more enjoyable.

He grew up watching these games, these nights, this league; now it’s his. In October, Bellingham scored twice to help Real Madrid beat Barcelona in Montjuïc, and in this game, Bellingham’s other goal helped them win 3-2. That gave them an 11-point lead with six games left. As teammates jumped into the crowd, Bellingham went to the corner to dance with Vazquez and then tugged on the badge. The Bernabeu fans chanted his name and then started singing. Champions, champions, they sang, and so will they. He has led them there; no player since Alfredo Di Stefano has dominated their debut season quite like he has, and this is just the latest chapter.

An El Clasico conditional on what happens in Europe midweek is theirs, and the title comes with it. It won’t always be easy and the best player may well be 16-year-old Lamine Yamar, but Bellingham is willing to do it, drag his team forward even in a draw and win the final victory. What a wonderful week it has been! Manchester City were beaten, another European Cup was within reach, and now Barcelona too. It’s so much like them. After falling behind twice, Madrid fought back and then, as the clock on the stadium’s new giant scoreboard stopped at 90, Bellingham emerged. Like pure will.

It’s a miracle they can still run. Madrid beat Manchester City on penalties, paying a physical price but enjoying the joy of another incredible European Cup night. Barcelona, ​​meanwhile, are carrying the emotional baggage of being eliminated by PSG and the aftermath of a painful night that ended with Ilkay Gundogan seemingly naming Ronald Araujo. “We have to channel all the anger, frustration and incompetence into something that works to our advantage,” Harvey once said.

It would be a stretch to say they did, and eventually they would be beaten and the pain would only deepen, but the first key moment of the game was one that completely broke the European script. Manchester City failed in many attempts, taking 18 corners without any reward, while Barcelona succeeded in just one attempt. Just like Wednesday night, the ball hit the goal hard and close. This time Andre Lunin reached for the ball but missed, allowing Andreas Christensen to head home. Barcelona took the lead just six minutes into the game. They were also encouraged to try again: their next three corners troubled Madrid, with each pass triggering a mini-crisis inside the six-yard box.

However, the lead did not last long, and a similar situation emerged in Europe this time. Joao Cancelo was at fault once again, awarding a penalty that even he himself described as “childish” in midweek, allowing Lucas Vázquez to pass and into the path of Paulo Cubasi. The area where one leg dropped. There was perhaps time to take it back and, just as importantly, there was time for Vázquez to see it through and he capitalized on the chance to win a penalty as Vinicius Junior became the first player to beat Marc An in almost 600 minutes in La Liga Andre ter Stegen’s players.

It’s a strange game with little that could be called controls, but there are flashes. Especially in Yamal: he charged at Eduardo Camavinga but was blocked by Lunin, he forced a corner kick and Robert Lewandowski headed just over, and in another corner, He thought he scored with a clever shot, but Lunin cleared the ball. It looked like a goal had been scored, but no one knew: Spain had no goal-line technology, so instead of an immediate, objective decision, two minutes and thirty-six seconds had passed, during which time no decision could be made, No goal was scored in the end. Yamal was still running and Camavinga struggled, knocking him down twice.

At the other end, Bellingham robbed Christensen, only to clear the ball for Vinicius and Rodrigo, squandering the chance before half-time. Immediately afterwards, he released Vinicius, allowing the Brazilian to shoot high. He was getting better and better but Barcelona needed to win more and it was Barcelona who scored the next goal.

Ter Stegen’s quick long ball found Joao Felix, who released another substitute, Ferran Torres, to run away. Chased by Camavinga, he worked his way into the six-yard box and snuck the ball past Lunin, but also beyond the post. However, if that opportunity disappears, another one will soon follow. Yamal’s cross was fired into the six-yard box. Torres jumped in front of Lunin, who pushed the ball out and Fermín Lopez finished the game.

Once again, the lead didn’t last long. Vinicius’s brilliant pass into the box eluded four defenders, with Cancelo the weakest link among them, before Vázquez came flying and judged the bounce perfectly to score the first time. Vinicius could have made it 3-2 when he rushed out from the left but was stopped by Ter Stegen. Soon after, he reluctantly quit, never getting another chance. Madrid did it, though. The first fell to Joselu. With Brahim Dias charging forward, Vázquez set off again to create chances for his team, with the second goal coming to Bellingham, who’s season and theirs were complete. .