Jude Bellingham’s dream start to life at Real Madrid continued as his mesmerising solo goal helped the Spanish giants down Napoli to make it two wins from two in this season’s Champions League.
Having grabbed a last-gasp winner to see off Union Berlin a fortnight ago, Bellingham first teed up Vinicius Junior to score after Leo Ostigard had put Napoli ahead at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
Bellingham’s fabulous driving run and strike put Real ahead and, although they were pegged back by Piotr Zielinski’s penalty, Federico Valverde’s venomous strike rebounded off Alex Meret as Napoli lost 3-2.
Bellingham’s stunning goal – his eighth in nine matches since moving to the Spanish capital in the summer – threatened to be overshadowed by a contentious penalty awarded to the hosts.
Nacho Fernandez was penalised as the ball inadvertently cannoned off his legs into his arm after he had slid to cut out a cross from Victor Osimhen. While a corner was awarded on-field, referee Emil Bozinovski reversed his decision and gave a spot-kick after being summoned to the VAR monitor.
But Meret’s own goal saw Carlo Ancelotti enjoy a winning return to the side he managed from May 2018 to December 2019 as Real moved on to six points to go top of Group C.
Bellingham was immediately into the thick of proceedings as a long ball allowed Rodrygo to stretch his legs, although the Brazilian was unsettled enough by Stanislav Lobotka to shoot straight at Meret.
Bellingham and Aurelien Tchouameni blazed over, but Napoli opened the scoring in the 19th minute, thanks in part to Real goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga missing a punch to clear Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s corner.
Although Bernardo Natan’s looping header thudded back off the bar, Ostigard was able to leap over Real defender Dani Carvajal to nod the rebound into an empty net.
The lead lasted eight minutes as Bellingham stretched to intercept Giovanni Di Lorenzo’s clumsy pass deep in Napoli’s half before teeing up Vinicius, who calmly slotted across Meret from an acute angle.
Real then went ahead for the first time in the 34th minute thanks to some magic from Bellingham, who collected on halfway, drove forward into the area and bulldozed his way round Ostigard before tucking a right-footed effort into the corner past Meret for his second Champions League goal in two matches.
Kepa atoned for his earlier error by getting a strong hand to keep out a header from Osimhen, who came out on top in an aerial battle with Antonio Rudiger, to keep Real ahead at half-time.
However, Napoli got the benefit of a questionable VAR decision after Osimhen’s attempted cross was cut out in the area by Nacho, whose sliding challenge ricocheted off his arm and out of play.
Bozinovski seemed bemused after being told to wait, but when he was called to the monitor the referee duly awarded a penalty, converted via a post by Zielinski, who scored his 50th Napoli goal.
That moment of fortune lifted Napoli as Kvaratskhelia shot wide before Zielinski saw his stinging drive from distance palmed away by Kepa, with Real forced to soak up some intense pressure on the hour.
Shortly after Ancelotti sent on Luka Modric, Real went close to retaking the lead as Carvajal’s snap shot was parried into the path of Bellingham, who headed the rebound wide, to his dismay.
But Real went ahead with 12 minutes left as Modric’s corner was only cleared to Valverde, who brought the ball down and unleashed a thunderbolt that crashed off the crossbar then thumped off the back of an unsuspecting Meret, who had been beaten for pace by the shot, before nestling in the net.
Ostigard forced Kepa into a save late on as Real rode a few nervy moments to pick up an important win.
Brest 2-1 Sturm Graz: Hosts making winning start on European bow
Abdallah Sima's second-half goal secured Brest their first-ever win in a European competition in a 2-1 victory over 10-man Sturm Graz on Thursday.
The French side made their Champions League bow, with goals in either half enough to overcome an own goal on the stroke of half-time.
Hugo Magnetti scored Brest's maiden European goal just 23 minutes in, expertly controlling it on his chest before volleying into the bottom corner to break the deadlock.
However, Sturm Graz equalised just before the break, with Edimilson Fernandes inadvertently sending the ball into his own net.
Brest adopted a more aggressive approach following the interval, and they were rewarded when Sima restored the French side's advantage by skilfully evading his marker to score in the 56th minute.
The visitors were reduced to 10 men with just two minutes remaining of the 90 when Dimitri Lavalee received his second booking after a late tackle on Magnetti. Jonas Martin then had two late chances to snatch a third but was denied by Kjell Scherpen.
Data Debrief: Making an entrance
Brest’s win over Sturm Graz was just the second by a team making their debut in major European competition across the last 21 attempts (D4 L15), with Zrinjski Mostar in last season's UEFA Conference League the only other victor in that time.
Magnetti netted on what was his first-ever start in European competition, becoming the first player to net a team's first-ever goal in the Champions League from outside the area since Demba Ba for Istanbul Basaksehir against Manchester United in November 2020.
Atletico Madrid 2-1 RB Leipzig: Late Gimenez header hands hosts victory
A late header by defender Jose Maria Gimenez gave Atletico Madrid a 2-1 win over RB Leipzig in their Champions League opener on Thursday.
The German side took a shock lead in the fourth minute thanks to a header by striker Benjamin Sesko, capping a quick counter-attack.
However, Antoine Griezmann struck a fine volley into the top corner in the 28th minute to level the scores.
Atletico dominated the match with 20 attempts on goal in total, but it wasn't until the 90th minute that they finally managed to find the winner, with Gimenez heading in a cross from Griezmann.
Data debrief: Griezmann inspires Atleti again
Griezmann proved once again to be the talisman for Atletico Madrid, with a goal and an assist, three chances created, winning 100% of his aerial duels and recovering the ball eight times.
After netting Atletico's first-half equaliser in this match, 26 of Griezmann’s 37 goals in the Champions League have now come on home soil, moving him level for home goals in the competition with Sergio Aguero and Alessandro Del Piero.
Leipzig have now failed to win in their last three games in Champions League, which is their longest winless streak in the competition since a run of six games from February to November 2021.
Atalanta 0-0 Arsenal: Raya wonder save earns Gunners a point
Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya secured his side a hard-earned point with a sensational double save from a penalty as they drew 0-0 at Atalanta in the Champions League on Thursday.
Spaniard Raya dived low to his right to beat away Mateo Retegui's spot-kick in the 51st minute then sprang across his goal to claw away the forward's follow-up header.
That was the most dramatic moment of an otherwise tepid affair in Bergamo, as Mikel Arteta's team produced a gritty away performance against the Europa League holders.
The closest Arsenal came to scoring was a first-half free-kick by Bukayo Saka that was saved well by Atalanta goalkeeper Marco Carnesecchi, while Gabriel Martinelli blasted over the crossbar to cap a rare Gunners attack after the break.
La Dea, meanwhile, went close to taking all three points when Juan Cuadrado sent a curling effort narrowly wide of the far corner with 67 minutes on the clock.
Arsenal's next Champions League fixture is a heavyweight clash with Paris Saint-Germain on October 1, while Atalanta go to Shakhtar Donetsk the following day.
Data Debrief: Raya heroics key for Arsenal
In a game where Arsenal struggled going forwards, only generating six attempts at goal worth 0.79 expected goals (xG), the Gunners needed Raya to come up trumps.
He became just the fourth Arsenal goalkeeper to save a penalty in the Champions League, after Richard Wright, Jens Lehmann and Lukasz Fabianski (twice).
Including shoot-outs, he has now kept out four of the last eight penalties he has faced in all competitions, having conceded each of the previous 19 he faced.
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