Bellingham gives Atalanta too much to do as Real Madrid show they are back
Rumours of Real Madrid’s Champions League demise had, it turns out, been exaggerated. So had suggestions Kylian Mbappé makes a poor fit for Carlo Ancelotti’s side if an emphatic opening goal is anything to go by, although his later departure with an injury means the question marks will linger. More than anything else this was a pulsating affair that swung in numerous directions and ended with the feeling these sides may meet again with more at stake. Vinícius Júnior and Jude Bellingham sealed a win that hauls Real back into contention for an automatic knockout place but Atalanta, who replied through a Charles De Ketelaere penalty and Ademola Lookman, would have deserved a point and will not feel distraught at a first defeat in two and a half months.
The makings of a league phase classic were present from the outset; it was the kind of match-up that might deal this tournament’s new iteration an extra shot of credibility. Real were not supposed to have found things so difficult in a format that makes failure unthinkable. By contrast things had been coming easily to their hosts, leaders of Serie A who had clocked up a run of 12 wins and two draws since late September. Atalanta are the provincial club that could: Europa League champions who show no sign of considering that once-impossible feat to be their ceiling.
