Jude Bellingham Shines in Real Madrid's Dramatic Opening Win

Jude Bellingham needed nine minutes to remind La Liga exactly who he is.

At the RCDE Stadium, with Espanyol barely settled, the England midfielder rose above a packed penalty area and thumped a header into the net from a wicked Arda Guler free-kick. One run, one leap, one ruthless finish. Real Madrid were in front and hunting in packs.

Espanyol staggered under the weight of the Madrid press. White shirts swarmed every loose touch, every hesitant pass. Yet the first real warning for the visitors came from distance. Clemens Riedel stepped onto a bouncing ball from 30 yards and hammered a rocket that forced Thibaut Courtois into a sharp, two-handed stop. It was a reminder: this would not be a procession.

The game briefly broke its rhythm when Dean Huijsen needed treatment for a cut above his eye, and that pause seemed to help the hosts. The noise grew, the passes sharpened, and Espanyol finally pushed Madrid back.

Their reward arrived on the half-hour, and it was worth the wait. Javi Hernandez danced down the left, slipping between challenges, riding contact, refusing to go down. He reached the byline and cut the ball back with precision. Alex Calatrava arrived right on cue, sweeping a composed finish past Courtois. From nowhere, Madrid’s control had evaporated.

The goal rattled Jose Mourinho’s side. For a spell, they lost their shape and their edge. Espanyol sensed it and went for the throat. Roberto Fernandez should have completed the turnaround before the interval, only to misjudge a close-range header with the goal yawning in front of him. Madrid walked off at half-time level, but more than a little relieved.

Kylian Mbappe’s league debut under Mourinho had been billed as the headline act. On the pitch, Marko Dmitrovic refused to play along. The Serbian goalkeeper read Mbappe’s first big chance brilliantly, spreading himself to block with his legs as the Frenchman tried to slide the ball past him. When Mbappe drilled low toward the corner later on, Dmitrovic was there again, down quickly, hands firm.

Mourinho, never one to wait passively for a solution, turned to his bench. On came record signing Yan Diomande, tasked with injecting speed and chaos into a game that was drifting away from Madrid’s control. It almost worked instantly. A deflected cross broke kindly to Federico Valverde on the edge of the box, and the Uruguayan did what he does best: he hit it with everything. The strike beat Dmitrovic but smashed the outside of the post and skidded away.

The pressure kept building. Corners, cut-backs, half-chances. Bellingham again rose to meet a Guler delivery, this time crashing a header against the crossbar with Dmitrovic rooted. The stadium held its breath as the ball bounced down and away. For all their territory, Madrid’s cutting edge kept flickering, not fully igniting.

Nothing summed up their frustration more than Mbappe’s late effort. Ten minutes from time, a half-volley off balance, skewed so badly it drifted toward the corner flag instead of the far post. A superstar still searching for rhythm, and a team still learning his movements.

Espanyol could sense something historic: a point wrestled from a giant, on the opening day, under a new-era spotlight. The clock ticked into stoppage time, the home crowd urging every clearance, every tackle. Madrid pressed, but the equaliser-turned-winner refused to come.

Until it did.

In the first minute of added time, chaos in the box finally broke Espanyol’s resistance. Mbappe was crowded out, bodies flying at his feet, the ball ricocheting loose. It fell to substitute Espi, who reacted quicker than anyone. One swing, one clean connection, and he slammed it home. The away end exploded; Espanyol’s players sank to their knees. A debut cameo, a lifetime memory.

The late strike stretched Real Madrid’s remarkable run: 18 consecutive seasons without defeat in their opening La Liga fixture. For Mourinho, it was another personal milestone, another line on an already remarkable record – seven wins from seven in managerial debut matches.

The performance showed the rough edges of a new project, the gaps in understanding between fresh faces and old pillars. But when the clock turned red and the game tilted toward chaos, Mourinho’s team did what his teams so often do.

They found a way to win.