Real Madrid really needed it. Beaten three times in six days, the title holder had to bring back a result from his trip to Atalanta Bergamo this Tuesday evening.
This was not obvious, because the winner of the last Europa League was in great form, undefeated in all competitions for three months, on a series of nine victories in a row, and without defeat in the Champions League before this meeting. But Real Madrid achieved this precious success (2-3), which it owes to its executives.
Kylian Mbappé put his team on the right track, with a good sequence to open the scoring (0-1, 10th), but the Bondynois was injured (35th), and Real were joined in the score on a penalty conceded by Aurélien Tchouameni, and transformed by Charles de Ketelaere (1-1, 45th+2).
Here comes Bellingham again
After MbappĂ©’s exit, the other Real stars took over. Vinicius first, for his return from injury, taking advantage of a failed recovery from an Italian defender (1-2, 56th). Then Jude Bellingham in the process, with a nice individual goal, for his first goal in C1 in a year (1-3, 59th).
Atalanta did not give up, reducing the gap with the untenable Ademola Lookman (2-3, 64th). Real then relied on its goalkeeper, Thibaut Courtois, who saved several balls from 3-3, and on… luck, with this incredible miss from Retegui, at the last second (90th + 5).
With now nine points, Real moves back to 18th place before receiving Salzburg. Atalanta, for its part, slips to 9th place.
