Jude Bellingham scored the winner on his first Champions League start of the season as Real Madrid continued their perfect opening run with a 1-0 victory over Juventus.
Xabi Alonso’s side have now won all three of their outings to open the 2025-26 campaign, though they struggled for fluidity during large parts of Wednesday’s clash at Santiago Bernabeu.
Madrid could not find a way through in the first half as Brahim Diaz, Aurelien Tchouameni, and Arda Guler all tested Michele Di Gregorio, while Eder Militao curled narrowly over from the perimeter of Juve’s box.
The Juventus goalkeeper produced his best stop just before the interval, repelling Kylian Mbappe’s left-footed drive as Di Gregorio denied the in-form Madrid striker with a combination of his shoulder and face.
Igor Tudor’s visitors should have taken the lead early in the second half, only for Dusan Vlahovic to be expertly thwarted by an onrushing Thibaut Courtois when one-on-one.
That miss was punished soon after by Bellingham as he pounced on the rebound when Vinicius Junior had struck Di Gregorio’s left-hand post in the 57th minute.
Mbappe could have doubled Madrid’s lead, if not for another smart Di Gregorio stop, before Diaz saw an attempt cleared off the line moments later.
Juventus failed to muster any meaningful response, barring a late fizzed effort from Filip Kostic that was pushed away by Courtois, as they went a third straight game without victory in this season’s competition.
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— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadriden) October 22, 2025
Data Debrief: Courtois’ history and Bellingham’s Italian joy
Madrid struggled to break down Juve, attempting 14 shots in the first 45 minutes of Wednesday’s game, more than in any other first half without scoring this season in all competitions.
They would not be denied, however, and Madrid have now scored in their last 38 Champions League home games, their best run in the competition since a 44-game stretch between September 2011 and October 2018.
Bellingham broke the deadlock with his fourth goal in the competition against Italian opposition (two against Napoli, one against both Atalanta and Juventus), more than against opponents from any other nation.
It proved a landmark outing for Courtois, who made his 300th appearance for Madrid in all competitions and now ranks only behind Iker Casillas (725), Paco Buyo (456) and Miguel Angel (346) among goalkeepers in the club’s history.
He also made his 91st Champions League appearance overall here, which is more than any other Belgian player in the competition’s history, while only eight goalkeepers have managed more in total.
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