Jude Bellingham scored his first goal of the season as Real Madrid held on to secure a narrow victory over Juventus in the Champions League.
The England midfielder has endured a difficult campaign so far, starting just three matches and appearing as a substitute in four more after recovering from a shoulder injury.
He had featured for only 10 minutes in Europe this season before Wednesday’s match against Juve and had not scored since the Club World Cup this summer.
But the 22-year-old was on hand to stab home a rebound after Vinicius Jr showed good feet to drive into the box and hit the post with a shot.
After a bright start by Juve who forced Real goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois into two good saves, the hosts peppered the visitors’ goal with 14 shots in the first half.
Kylian Mbappe went closest with a fierce shot which tested goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio but neither side could break the deadlock before the break.
Dusan Vlahovic came close to an opener from a counter-attack before Vinicius’ moment of quality set up Bellingham for what proved to be the winning goal.
It is the first time since August that Mbappe has failed to score. Had he netted against Juventus he would have stretched his goalscoring streak to 12 consecutive games for club and country, matching Manchester City striker Erling Haaland’s current run.
Real sit fifth in the table with three wins from three while Juventus are 25th and without a win in the competition so far.