Star Real Madrid trio gets their UCL campaign back on track | OneFootball

There is no doubt that the UEFA Champions League is the favourite competition for Real Madrid, and the last few years have gone on to confirm this notion as the Merengues have won the competition with the odds stacked against them.

Los Blancos are rarely the best team for the entirety of the competition, but they still get the job done when the stakes are the highest.

This has been particularly the case this season, as Real Madrid were able to win only 2 of their first 5 matches in the League Phase of the competition this season, and were placed 24 at the end of matchday 5, the last spot for qualification to the play-off match for the Round of 16.

However, last night, the Merengues once again showed why they should never be written off from this competition, as they got a much-needed victory over a very difficult Atalanta side, which puts their UCL campaign back on track. In fact, Los Blancos can now even dream of getting one of the top 8 spots, which will allow them to advance to the Round of 16 directly.

In addition to getting their UCL campaign back on track, this game can also turn out to be important as this was the first time that the superstar trio of Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappe, and Vinicius Junior, provided a glimpse of the damage they can cause when playing together.

Kylian Mbappe was particularly sharp in the initial phase of the game, particularly in comparison to some of his earlier performances in the white shirt. He scored a wonderful goal to give an early lead to his team and got in dangerous positions two other times but was unable to finish these two chances.

Unluckily, his game was cut short by a physical problem, and he had to be subbed out 35 minutes into the game, but for these few minutes, he looked to be in significantly better form than he has looked up to now this season.

On the other hand, his partner up front, Vinicius Junior, was far from his best, which is understandable as he had slotted right back into the starting lineup after recovering from an injury. He also played more as a playmaker than in his usual role as a winger and proved to be decisive in this role as well as he scored a goal and provided an assist on the night. With this goal, he now has 5 goals in the UCL.

However, the brightest of these stars was once against Jude Bellingham, who was the Man of the Match last night and scored his first goal of this UCL season, which ultimately proved to be the winner for Real Madrid.

But his influence was present beyond this goal, as data from Sofascore shows that he provided 2 key passes and created 2 big chances, but was unable to get an assist to his name. Similarly, he completed 86% of his passes, even when Atalanta did not allow a lot of time on the ball for the Merengues.

Similarly, he was also good with the ball as he completed 5 of his 7 attempted dribbles, and won 8 of his 15 ground duels on the night. He also lost possession 12 times on the night, but made up for these giveaways but putting in 1 clearance, 2 interceptions, and 1 tackle.

Thus, Real Madrid’s star power once again came to rescue the team from a difficult position in the UCL. Hopefully, the Merengues can get good results in the remaining 2 games, and qualify directly to the Round of 16.