Ademola Lookman Dazzles, But Jude Bellingham stole the Show, as Dominant Atalanta Falls at Home Against Madrid in UCL

 

Atalanta owned the night, outplaying Real Madrid with 20 shots to 10, an xG of 2.94 to Madrid's 1.57, and relentless pressure that saw nine shots on target. But despite their dominance, the match ended 3-2 in Madrid’s favor - that's football for you. 

Match stats

Atalanta Team stats Real Madrid

20 Shots 10

9 Shots on target 6

56% Possession 44%

568 Passes 470

Ademola Lookman was the standout performer, but Jude Bellingham stole the night as man of the match. 

He firing Atalanta back into contention with a clinical goal and creating a late chance that could have levelled up the game, but was shot wide by Retegui. 

His energy and creativity tore through Madrid’s defense all night. This was Atalanta’s first loss in the Champions League this season, dropping them to 8th place and pushing Madrid up to 17th place.

Lookman’s consistency and impact are undeniable. 

Match Proceedings at a Glance

- Real Madrid beat Atalanta 3-2 in the League Stage of the UEFA Champions League.

- The match, a rerun of the UEFA Super Cup which Real won in August, was being played at Gewiss Stadium, in Bergamo, Italy.

- Kylian Mbappe gave the defending champions Real Madrid the lead but limped off before Charles De Ketelaere drew the home side level at the break from the penalty spot.

- Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham restored the Spaniards’ lead, but Ademola Lookman pulled one back for Atalanta to set up a nervy finish, which saw Matteo Ruggeri spurn a glorious close-range chance in the dying stages.

- Atalanta qualified for the competition as winners of last season’s Europa League. Real beat Borussia Dortmund in last year’s final. Real are second in Spain’s LaLiga, two points behind Barcelona, while Atalanta top Italy’s Serie A.

Here are the player ratings from an entertaining evening in Bergamo.

Atalanta 

Carnesecchi 5.5 – Didn’t have much time to react for either Mbappé or Vinicius Jr’s goals, and the strike from Bellingham was beautifully placed – out of reach – into the far corner. 

Djimsiti 5.5 – Had his work cut out for him going man-for-man with Mbappé early on, and his life wasn’t made much easier when Rodrygo came on just over half an hour in. Error in communication with Ederson led to Vinicius Jr’s goal. 

Ederson 6.5 – Covered an awful lot of ground in the first half, as he usually does. Slightly unfortunate that the ball bounced off him in the lead-up to Vinicius Jr’s goal. 

Pasalic 5 – The first Atalanta player to be sacrificed in the second half. The Croatian didn’t have the most enjoyable of evenings against an unconventional Real Madrid midfield that included Federico Valverde and Jude Bellingham. 

Ruggeri 6 – Could have slipped Lookman through on goal at 3-2 with 10 minutes to go, but decided to try and do it himself. 

De Ketelaere 7 – Had a couple of chances to equalise in the first half, but was usually thwarted by the excellent Rüdiger. Excellent finish from the penalty spot, and showed big nerves to put it in the top of the net. 

Lookman 7.5 – Enjoyed a lot of success on the left of Atalanta’s attack, particularly when running at Lucas Vasquez. Scored another wonderful goal and provided the cross that could have put Atalanta back on level terms deep into second-half injury time

Real Madrid 

Courtois 6; Vasquez 5.5, Tchouameni 6, Rüdiger 7, Fran Garcia 6; Ceballos 6, Valverde 5.5; Brahim Diaz 6, Bellingham 7.5, Vinicius Jr. 6.5; Mbappe 7.