Jude Bellingham scored and set up another as Real Madrid beat Napoli 3-2 in the Champions League group stages on Tuesday.
The Madrid midfielder intercepted a pass from Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo before setting up Vinicius Junior for an equaliser at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium after Leo Ositgard put Napoli ahead.
The England international then slalomed through Napoli’s defence from around midfield to score his eighth goal in nine appearances since signing for Real Madrid in the summer.
“What surprises me is that he’s only 20 years old,” said Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti. “He has extraordinary qualities and he’s showing how much talent he has.”
Napoli midfielder Piotr Zielinski scored a controversial penalty after the break to make it 2-2. There was a long VAR review following a sliding tackle by Nacho on Victor Osimhen, as the ball appeared to first hit the defender’s shin and then his arm.
Bellingham now has eight goals and three assists in nine games for Real Madrid this season
But Real, the 14-time winners of the competition, sit top of Group C with six points after a powerful deflected strike from Federico Valverde hit the crossbar and rebounded in off Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret to secure the win.
Bayern go top of Man Utd’s group with comeback win
Thomas Muller changed the game off the bench for Bayern Munich
Thomas Muller came off the bench to set up the winning goal for fellow substitute Mathys Tel in Bayern Munich’s 2-1 comeback win over Denmark’s FC Copenhagen to put the German champions on top in Group A.
With his side struggling to create against the Danish champions, the 34-year-old Muller entered the game in the 77th minute and used his vast experience to first outrun the defence and then out-muscle it before teeing up Tel to take all three points.
Mathys Tel celebrates after scoring the winner for Bayern Munich
The home side had taken a shock lead in the 56th minute when Bayern failed to clear Viktor Claesson’s shot, and midfielder Lukas Lerager followed up with a clever bouncing drive to put the Danish champions in the driving seat.
Bayern struck back in the 67th minute as Jamal Musiala jinked left and right on the edge of the area before dispatching a low shot into the corner of the net beyond the dive of Kamil Grabara before Tel’s goal sealed the win.
Copenhagen substitute Jordan Larsson almost snatched a point for his side in the fifth minute of stoppage time as his header was steered goalwards by Eric Choupo-Moting, but Sven Ulreich pulled off a tremendous diving save to keep the lead intact.
The victory left Bayern top of the group on six points, two ahead of Galatasaray, who beat Manchester United 3-2 at Old Trafford to leave United bottom.