Real Madrid won 3-2 away against Atalanta in the 6th round of the UEFA Champions League qualifying round. What was more wonderful than the 3 points in this victory was that the stars on the attack all scored. Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr and Jude Bellingham tore the opponent's net in turn.
"Real Madrid played a complete and effective game in front of goal. I think the key to success was the mobility the team had up front with Vinicius, Bellingham and Mbappe.
Real Madrid had many chances and also had to go through a storm in the final minutes. Anyway, this was a good match and we deserved to win. The quality of the players played a decisive role in this result" - Carlo Ancelotti and Jude Bellingham shared.
This match marked the return of the most complete version of Vinicius after he was temporarily off the pitch due to a hamstring injury he suffered before the match against Liverpool at Anfield. During the warm-up, the 24-year-old Brazilian star was slower than his teammates. Caution was still there but it was very necessary for Vinicius in this new stage of his comeback.
When they entered the field, Vinicius and Mbappe were booed and whistled by the Atalanta fans. However, it had been a long time since Madridistas had felt Mbappe so comfortable. Despite the pressure from the stands, the French star played very comfortably, attacking and defending rhythmically and seemingly unaffected.
In the first half, Mbappe created 3 big chances, one of which opened the scoring in the 10th minute. It was the former PSG star's 50th goal in the UEFA Champions League after 79 matches, helping him equal the scoring record with his senior Thierry Henry in Europe's most prestigious tournament. It was quite a pity that Mbappe had to leave the field with a minor injury afterwards.
When Mbappe left the field, Vinicius led the attack. Almost at the first good chance, the Brazilian striker doubled the gap for the visitors in the 56th minute. Just 3 minutes later, also from Vinicius' pass, opened up the opportunity for Bellingham to increase the score to 3-1.
This was a very good match for Jude Bellingham when he had 1 goal, 2 important passes, completed 5/7 dribbles, won 9 duels and had 64 touches. Almost every hot spot on the field, the English star was present.
Putting aside doubts at the beginning of the season about the decline in form compared to last season, in the last 6 matches Real Madrid has scored, Bellingham has put his name on the scoreboard. Currently, he is Real Madrid's 3rd best striker after Mbappe (13 goals) and Vinicius (12).
In some other teams, the fierce competition of 3 stars in the attack line like Real Madrid might cause conflicts. However, with what Los Blancos have, everything is perfect and smooth, all is fair and civilized competition. That is a very good signal for coach Ancelotti to limit unnecessary troubles.
The fact that Mbappe, Vinicius and Bellingham all scored shows the commitment to an attack that can accommodate all three stars. This was a problem that Ancelotti could not solve two months ago. When asked if the win over Atalanta was the end of the line for his forward line, the Italian coach avoided answering directly and only said that it was a very good premise to accelerate in the upcoming Christmas period.
