Bellingham scores on competitive debut to give Madrid 2-0 win at Bilbao

Rodrygo and new recruit Jude Bellingham scored first-half objectives to offer Real Madrid a 2-0 win at Athletic Bilbao to kick off their LaLiga season on Saturday.

Player-of-the-match Bellingham, signed for 103 million euros plus 30 million euros in add-ons from Borussia Dortmund, seemed unstoppable as he made relentless challenges and created a number of alternatives up entrance.

Following the exit of former Ballon D’Or winner Karim Benzema, who left for Saudi Arabia, the 20-year-old Bellingham mixed nicely with Rodrygo and Vinicius Jr within the new 4-4-2 formation.

Federico Valverde had Real’s first likelihood on the 14th minute, with a bullet strike from vary that flew simply large up the crossbar.

Real opened the scoring within the twenty eighth minute after a mistake from Athletic’s defence, who did not clear a problem received towards Dani Carvajal contained in the field. Rodrygo was quick sufficient to react and get better the free ball, netting a intelligent end between goalkeeper Unai Simon and the close to put up.

Bellingham then netted a pleasant volley eight minutes later after latching onto a David Alaba nook with an arching shot which looped over Simon and into the highest proper nook.

Real was in complete management however was wasteful within the second half and missed a number of alternatives to increase their lead.

It additionally misplaced defender Eder Militao, who left the pitch in tears with what seemed like a left knee damage 5 minutes after the break.

With the sport within the bag, coach Carlo Ancelotti made a number of modifications and appeared happy after the ultimate whistle.

“Bellingham is a fantastic kid, he displays quality, personality, he is a hard worker. He is just fantastic,” Ancelotti instructed Movistar Plus.

“He is very motivated to be here, he is a fantastic player and a very, very important signing.

“We were on fire and motivated, we had a very good collective commitment, attitude, won many challenges, worked together defensively, a clean sheet was positive… it was a complete game, a very high level first half and a second half of total control.”