Jude Bellingham Reflects on Real Madrid's Win Against Inter Milan

Jude Bellingham did not try to dress it up. Real Madrid had beaten Inter Milan 2-1 to launch their Champions League campaign, but the scoreline, he admitted, did not tell the full story.

“We struggled at times against a very strong team,” the England midfielder said, reflecting on a night where Madrid’s quality flashed in moments but rarely settled into full control.

“They are deserving Italian champions, and there were moments when we made them suffer, especially on the counter-attacks, when we were passing the ball well.”

Madrid’s breaks did hurt Inter, but the same problem that haunted them at the weekend refused to go away.

“Something similar happened against Real Betis at the end of last week, when we failed to take our chances,” Bellingham pointed out. The pattern is becoming familiar: Madrid carve teams open, then leave the door ajar at the other end.

They had the chances to kill this game. Bellingham knows he was at the heart of that story.

“We could have finished the match with an easier scoreline,” he said. “We had chances, myself included, but in the Champions League there are bound to be difficult moments.”

Those difficult moments came late, with Inter pushing and Madrid clinging to a fragile lead. Defensively, though, Bellingham was quick to defend his teammates.

“We conceded only one goal, and the defenders were excellent, but big teams find gaps in our defence. And Courtois was brilliant,” he said. “Not everything was bad, but there is still room for improvement. The most important thing is the three points.”

For Bellingham, the night carried a personal frustration. Twice he thought he had his goal; twice he watched Inter’s goalkeeper deny him.

“I thought I was going to score,” he admitted. “The first time, the goalkeeper suddenly appeared. The ball reached me and I said to myself: ‘It’s a goal.’ But he cleared it suddenly.”

The second chance stung just as much.

“I saw the ball a little late, and there were players in the middle,” Bellingham explained. “I tried to control it and struck it well. But once again, the goalkeeper saved it superbly.”

He did not hide how much it bothered him.

“It’s frustrating, because it would have made things easier for us if I had scored, but it’s part of the game. On another day, these shots will go in.”

Madrid walk away with three points, but Bellingham’s words hang over the performance. The win is banked. The standard, clearly, is not.