Real Madrid goes into the national team break as the leader after beating Osasuna at the Bernabéu, a rival that posed fewer problems than other times. The Bellingham effect was enough for the whites. The Englishman is still in a state of grace and scored a double, the first goal already in the ninth minute when he took advantage of a pass from Modric.
Bellingham's numbers are absolute crack. In his first ten official matches he has scored ten goals, surpassing Cristiano's record by one, although the Portuguese has the advantage of being a forward and having the team dedicated to his game. Bellingham's performance, from the point of the diamond, is of maximum finishing efficiency. But the Englishman not only contributes as the best Christian. He moves around all areas of the field, defends when he has to defend and improves with every ball that comes to him. The stands sing “Hey Jude” to pay tribute to him, who has already become the best player on the team, far above Vinícius, who still suffers from his injury and has lost some of his spark.
Against Osasuna Ancelotti had another classic player on the pitch, Luca Modric, who returned to the starting lineup after two games on the bench. The Italian thus cut off the gossip about the Croatian's emotional discomfort.
The eleven was more or less as expected, with few rotations. The central defender next to Rüdiger was Tchouaméni, Camavinga acted as a defensive midfielder and Joselu sent the ill-advised Rodrygo to the bench, who has not seen a goal since the league debut.
This time Madrid's staging was much better than other days. They pushed early and opened the scoring very early with Bellingham's goal. Osasuna was not too upset with the goal against. It is a team that never gives up and that groups the center very well. He attacks and defends with many people and his fight is unfailing because it is in his DNA. Madrid is not usually very good at it and days like today are the exception.
Madrid slowed down a bit after the first twenty minutes and the rojillos little by little put Madrid in trouble. The whites had few more opportunities in the first half, the clearest being a shot by Vinícius that went high and another that was lost due to poor control by Joselu when he was left alone in a textbook counterattack.
Osasuna didn't bother Kepa much either, except for some distant shots that didn't hit the target. The dominance of the Navarrese was rather innocuous, but in the last play of the first half the tie could have come from a cross by Rubén Peña, Torró let the ball pass and, without a mark on him and everything in his favor, the Croatian Budimir finished high.
The second half began without changes and with a shot from Joselu that went off the mark. Madrid was ready to make a decision and Osasuna suffered, locked in their area, but without getting disorganized.
The Bernabéu was enjoying the best minutes of its team and the stands remembered Nacho and chanted for the captain with “Nacho, Nacho”, who was serving a penalty for his kick on Portu.
In the midst of Madrid's surge, Bellingham's second goal arrived, in the 54th, after a pass from Valverde and a shot that passed between Herrera's legs.
The third would come in the 64th minute, a lethal counterattack by Vinícius after a leaked pass from Valverde. The Brazilian went for speed, dribbled past Sergio Herrera and scored into an empty goal. The fourth would soon arrive with a pass from Vinícius and a shot from Joselu.
The fifth did not arrive because Joselu missed a penalty at the hands of David García after Kroos shot. Sergio Herrera has specialized in stopping penalties against Madrid, but he could not avoid the defeat yesterday. Madrid doesn't get one right this season with penalties, but they are dedicated to Bellingham, now their franchise player, just turned 20.
