Jude Bellingham further enhanced his status as Real Madrid’s star player, scoring and assisting as they beat Italian champions Napoli at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in the Champions League.
The England midfielder carried the ball from 40 yards out, charged deep into Napoli’s defensive third and then proceeded to weave his way through their backline before curling a shot cutely into the bottom right corner to give his side a 2-1 lead at half-time.
Defender Leo Ostigard had earlier put Napoli in front in the 19th minute, reacting quickest to head in after Natan’s effort came back off the crossbar, but Vinicius Jr levelled for Real when he was played through on goal by Bellingham.
Napoli came out with intent in the second period and their hard work was rewarded when Piotr Zielinski equalised from the penalty spot.
Referee Clement Turpin did not initially give the penalty when Victor Osimhen’s shot was blocked by Nacho Fernandez but, following a video assistant referee check, the French official was told to take another look on the pitch side monitor and he overturned his decision.
Real grabbed the winner with just over 10 minutes left when Federico Valverde’s thunderbolt of a shot cannoned off the crossbar and went in via the back of goalkeeper Alex Meret.
The victory puts Carlo Ancelotti’s side at the top of Group C with six points from their opening two games, having beaten Union Berlin 1-0 in their first outing.
Napoli – who had gone 14 games unbeaten at home in the Champions League – are second and only clear of third-placed Braga on head-to-head after beating the Portuguese side 2-1 last month. Braga came from two goals down to win 3-2 at Union Berlin earlier on Tuesday.
BBC
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