Bellingham, Vinicius shine as champions Madrid smash Alaves

Business May, 15 2024
Bellingham, Vinicius shine as champions Madrid smash Alaves
  • 156
  • 0

 MADRID: Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Junior inspired runaway Spanish champions Real Madrid to a 5-0 rout of Alaves on Tuesday.

Carlo Ancelotti's side continued warming up for the Champions League final with a comprehensive demolition of their Basque visitors at the Santiago Bernabeu. Bellingham scored the opener and played a part in Madrid's next three goals, two scored by Vinicius, finding his best form at the business end of the season. Turkish teenager Arda Guler added a late fifth to put the cherry on Madrid's cake and moving them 17 points clear of second-place Barcelona. "We've had just one defeat in the league and I think that a big part of the success is because of (the defence)," Ancelotti told reporters after his side's 30th consecutive league game unbeaten. Madrid celebrated their title with an open-top bus parade on Sunday but with the Wembley final a little over a fortnight away, nobody is letting their concentration slip. Least of all Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who made a fine double save from Samu Omorodion in the opening minutes.

After missing most of the season with a severe knee injury, Courtois is hoping for a Champions League final start and boasts three clean sheets in three matches since his return. "I knew I'd come back strongly -- I'm the same Courtois, or even better," said the goalkeeper. Ancelotti selected the vast majority of his first choice line-up after resting them at the weekend, and Madrid's usual suspect opened the scoring. It was Bellingham, with his 19th league goal and perhaps his luckiest. The England international directed Toni Kroos' cross towards the far post where Dani Carvajal was running in, but the ball sank directly into the net. Bellingham trails La Liga's top scorer, Girona's Artem Dovbyk, by one goal. Madrid doubled their lead after Bellingham threaded a pass through for Eduardo Camavinga. The French midfielder burst forward in the box and unselfishly squared for Vinicius to tap home when other players might have taken the chance to shoot.

NC Big Stories

PTI announces giving ‘surprise’ to govt on Nov 24

LAHORE: With the ruling coalition and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) devising their respective strategies in connection with the “do-or-die protest’ in Islamabad, the latter yesterday announced giving surprise to the government on Novembe...

Tax evaders, abettors to face music: PM

ISLAMABAD: A day after the finance minister vowed bringing all sectors into the tax net, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif yesterday said that tax evaders and their abettors will not be left unpunished. Chairing a meeting in Islamabad to review overall e...

‘Sultanate of Oman celebrates 54th National Day’

The Sultanate of Oman celebrating the 54th glorious National Day on 18th November, marking milestone accomplishments in different areas. The citizens of Oman and various state institutions have rendered an indispensable contribution to the continuous...

IDEAS-2024: A Remarkable Step Forward

By Dr Zia Ul Haque Shamsi The post-Cold War security architecture is evolving, and the international system is preparing itself for the realities of multipolarity instead of continuing with the US-led unipolarity. Likewise, the regional strategic pri...

More like this
Related

Meta supports Pakistani creators in Karachi to inspire new wave of content

KARACHI: Meta connected with content creators in Karachi through various engagements starting with an event on November 6 that brought together around 40 creators from across Pakistan. Throughout the week, Meta worked with popular creators like Food...

Gold price rises by Rs1,400/tola

KARACHI: After a sharp decline in the previous session, gold prices in Pakistan saw a notable rebound on Wednesday, tracking the upward movement in international rates. The price of gold per tola rose by Rs1,400, settling at Rs271,900 in the local m...

Pakistani rupee appreciates marginally against USD

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani rupee showed a slight improvement against the US dollar on Wednesday, gaining 0.03% in the inter-bank market. At the close of trading, the rupee settled at Rs277.85, marking an increase of Re0.08 compared to the previous day...

KSE-100 ends marginally higher amid volatile trading

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) saw volatile trading on Wednesday, with the KSE-100 Index closing with a modest gain of 131 points. After starting the session in the red, the index hit an intra-day low of 92,943.08 points. However, a wave...
Need Help? Chat with us