José Mourinho had doubts about introducing Jude Bellingham in the starting eleven against Espanyol. The reasons were logical. He played until the latter stages of the World Cup and joined Real Madrid late. So, the physicality must be at the top to perform. “I had doubts about whether to start him or bring him on later,” Mourinho said after Real Madrid’s win over Espanyol. “I don’t know if I made the right decision, but physically and mentally he is very strong.
As the game started, Bellingham seemed
to be the most important piece in Real Madrid’s structure, linking defense and attack.
Against Espanyol’s 4-4-2/4-2-4 medium block, Real Madrid lined up in a 3-2-5 formation, in which Arda Guler tucked in, leaving room for Denzel Dumfries to push on, whereas Carreras narrowed inside to form a situational backline of three. The home team’s front two screened Fede Valverde and Bernardo Silva. So, Real Madrid attempted to work the ball around Espanyol’s block:
As the ball moved across the back line, Espanyol tended to jump and press:
The White team would capitalise on Jude Bellingham’s width-drawing movements from the left half-space toward the flanks. In this scene, Carreras exploits Calatrava stepping out to block off the in-out angle in order to carry the ball through. Bellingham’s deeper movements drag Gonzalez across and give room for Kylian Mbappé to dash into the center. Additionally, Vinicius Junior pinning the opposite right-back generates space inside for Bellingham to scamper forward:
The central passing lanes were closed off. Espanyol tried to funnel the play toward the flanks and jump aggressively onto the ball down the traps they set up wide. However, a couple of Real Madrid’s off-ball movements enabled Mourinho’s team to break down Espanyol’s high press.
Calatrava made sure he ran from the inside toward Carreras only if the ball ended up on Real Madrid’s left side. At that moment, Valverde shifted across with Gonzalez following him, and Bellingham dashed deeper and pulled wide. Espanyol’s pivot, Gonzalez, didn’t apply heavy pressure on Valverde, while Carreras kept hold of the ball. He tended to jump on only when the pass was played to Valverde. The telos was to keep the center covered and deny the out-in entries:
As a consequence, Valverde was momentarily free to play the pass from a first-time touch into Bellingham. As Vinicius Junior was pinning El Hilali to give Bellingham room to drive inside, this time he narrowed inside, drawing his marker with him and vacating the wide channels for the Englishman to gallop the length of the pitch.
It’s worth mentioning that Jude Bellingham was more inclined to overcarrying, and on occasion he kept his head down, which prevented him from taking a picture of what was happening inside or delayed Real Madrid’s attack:
Bellingham was smartly sneaking behind the blindside of Espanyol’s pivot Urko Gonzalez when the latter proceeded with a jump onto Valverde. Bellingham’s lateral movements between the lines opened up a passing lane between him and the backline. Dean Huijsen was able to slide line-breaking passes through Espanyol’s medium block. Below, Bellingham feeds Güler in the right half-space after he receives Huijsen’s pass. Guler finds Bernardo Silva ahead, while Mbappé’s forward run drags the backline rearward, enabling the Portuguese midfielder time on the ball to assess his options. Silva spots Dumfries’ run beyond the winger Dolan to set him up near the byline.
Real Madrid had different alternatives to bypass Espanyol’s high press. With Calatrava’s emphasis on limiting the inside access, Carreras was able to find the pass to Vinicius Junior, who drops near the flanks. From there, the Brazilian could pick out passes inside because of how the hosts were set high up the pitch.
Below, Riedel didn’t stick to Bellingham, as he was caught between stepping up and monitoring the space he left behind. The same for Gonzalez, who stood between Bernardo Silva and Bellingham. Additionally, Carreras would pass and move inside behind Calatrava’s blindside. So, Vinicius had multiple options to glide the ball back inside.
It’s worth noting that Espanyol’s far-side winger narrowed inside toward Real Madrid’s far-side pivot, as Manolo Gonzalez’s team maintained numerical superiority at the backline. With the ability to escape the wide traps, Real Madrid could exploit the numerical inferiority on the opposite side via Bellingham stepping back and finding Dumfries racing out forward:
Arriving at the box with a minimum of players, Dumfries held onto the ball, waiting for Guler and Valverde to join. The Dutch right-back providing the beyond run allowed Guler to slide the through ball, releasing him around the six-yard box:
Dean Huijsen and Alvaro Carreras were crucial to Real Madrid’s buildup as well. The former enabled the team to slice through thanks to his line-breaking passes. He also proceeded by carrying to break down Espanyol first line of the high press. In this scene, Dean Huijsen orients his body toward Courtois to deceive striker Roberto Fernandez and drive him to cut off the backward passing lane to Courtois. That vacated the space ahead for Dean Huijsen to carry forward. In the meantime, Bellingham would dash toward the left and draw Exposito with him to clear the way for Huijsen and open room for Vinicius Junior to appear. By doing so, Real Madrid was able to work the ball to the right side.
Alongside the goal he scored from the indirect free kick, Jude Bellingham proved to be an efficient bridge between defense and attack via his ability to carry over distances and wriggle his way out through defensive blocks. However, Mourinho seemed to be more convinced about Bellingham playing high up the pitch to take advantage of his killer scoring instincts: “He needs to play close to the goal. He can play as a No 6 or a No 8, but he loses that proximity to the goal. When he is in top physical condition, he can give you a complete 90 minutes. We are getting to know each other, and it is better to do that without dropping points.”
