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The competition started with Jude Bellingham and ended with him as well. Way back in August, the Englishman stood before the stands in the place they call the cathedral and spread his arms wide after scoring on the first night of the rest of his life, his arrival was announced; now, eight months later, he did it again, welcoming the entire Santiago Bernabéu, all 77,981 of them, and millions more around the world. It has become a trademark and it signified the title.
Ninety minutes had passed in the greatest match in the world and it was 2-2 when Lucas Vázquez, absolutely tireless all night, delivered a final pass towards the far post, and there was Bellingham, the man to whom this season will always belong. He thundered in at the far post and smashed it into the roof of the net first time with his left foot, sending this spot wild. It was his seventeenth competition goal and with it the title was as good as secured. He had also done it the Real Madrid way; the more epic, the more fun.
Related: Real Madrid 3-2 Barcelona: La Liga - as it happened
He had grown up watching these games, these kinds of nights, this competition; now it was his. Bellingham had scored twice to see Madrid come back and beat Barcelona at Montjuic in October. Another here had given them a 3-2 victory, putting them eleven points clear with just six games remaining. As teammates jumped into the crowd, Bellingham went to the corner, danced with Vázquez and then tugged on that badge. The Bernabéu sang his name and then began to sing. Champions, champions, they sang, and so they will be. He had led them there; Not since Alfredo di Stefano has a player dominated his debut season here as much as he has, this is only the latest chapter.
A classic that was defined by what happened in Europe mid-week was theirs and with it the title. It hadn't always been easy, and the best player around was perhaps 16-year-old Lamine Yamal, but Bellingham had wanted it, dragged his team forward even when a draw was enough, and rewarded it with a late win. What a week it had been; Manchester City were defeated, another European Cup within reach, and now Barcelona too. This looked so much like them. Two down, Madrid fought back and when the clocks on the new gigantic scoreboards in this stadium had stopped at 90, Bellingham appeared. As if it is purely out of will.
The story continues
It was a miracle they could still run. Madrid bore the physical costs of their shootout victory over Manchester City, but suffered the euphoria of another barely credible European Cup night. Barcelona, meanwhile, had the emotional burden of elimination at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain and the fallout from a painful night, at the end of which Ilkay Gündogan appeared to shout out Ronald Araujo. "We must turn all the anger, frustration and powerlessness to our advantage," Xavi had said.
It would be a stretch to say they did just that, and in the end they would be defeated, the pain only increased, but the first key moment of the game was a complete break from the European script. Where Manchester City tried and failed so many times, scoring eighteen corners without any reward, Barcelona succeeded at the first attempt. Just like on Wednesday evening, the ball was swung hard in, close to the goal. This time Andriy Lunin took the ball and missed, allowing Andreas Christensen to head in an open goal. Only six minutes into the match and Barcelona were in the lead. They were also encouraged to try again: their next three corners all caused Madrid problems, with each ball causing a mini-crisis inside the six-yard box.
But not that the lead lasted long, and this time there were echoes of Europe. Once again it was João Cancelo to blame, the man guilty of giving away what he even called an 'infantile', a penalty in midweek that allowed Lucas Vázquez to pass into the area where Pau Cubarsí left a leg. There was perhaps time to withdraw it and, just as importantly, time for Vázquez to see it, capitalizing on the penalty that made Vinícius Júnior the first player to beat Marc Andre ter Stegen in almost 600 La Liga minutes.
This was a strange game, with little that could be called control, but there were flashes. Especially from Yamal: he ran away from Eduardo Camavinga, but was denied by Lunin, forced the corner from which Robert Lewandowski headed just over and thought he had scored from another corner with a clever tap that Lunin cleared. It looked like it had gone in, but no one knew: Spain does not have goal-line technology and so instead of an immediate, objective decision, two minutes and 36 seconds passed in which no decision could be made and ultimately no goal could be scored datum. Still Yamal ran, while Camavinga struggled and knocked him down twice.
At the other end, Bellingham robbed Christensen only for Vinícius and Rodrygo, sent off, to make a mess of the chance just before half-time. Shortly afterwards he released Vinícius so that the Brazilian could shoot over. He imposed more and more on himself, but it was Barcelona that had to win more and then score.
Ter Stegen's quick, long throw found João Félix, who allowed the other substitute, Ferran Torres, to run free. Chased by Camavinga, he reached the penalty area and smuggled the ball past Lunin, but also past the post. But once that opportunity passed, another soon followed. Yamal's cross bent into the twenty-foot box. Torres jumped in front of Lunin, who eliminated, and Fermín López finished.
Once again the lead did not last. Vinícius' superb effort across the area evaded four defenders, Cancelo the weakest link in a chain of them, and Vázquez flew in and judged the bounce perfectly to strike home first time. Vinícius could have made it 3-2 by storming away on the left, but was stopped by Ter Stegen. Shortly afterwards he unwillingly withdrew and was not given another chance. However, Madrid did. The first fell on Joselu. As Brahim Díaz charged forward and Vázquez once again set out to set it up, the second for Bellingham, who was different as his season and theirs had come full circle.
