Elche

Jude Bellingham’s 87th minute equaliser rescued Real Madrid from defeat at Elche as Los Blancos return to top of ladder.

Jude Bellingham struck late on to secure Real Madrid a 2-2 draw at Elche on Sunday, taking his team top of La Liga by a point.

Xabi Alonso’s side struggled against their mid-table opponents in an entertaining battle in which Madrid twice came from behind.

Aleix Febas fired the hosts ahead before Dean Huijsen levelled for the league leaders, with Bellingham stabbing home from close range after Alvaro Rodriguez blasted Elche back in front.

Barcelona cut Madrid’s lead by two points over the weekend after they thrashed Athletic Bilbao 4-0 on Saturday in their first match back at Camp Nou.

Alonso afforded Rodrygo Goes a rare start as part of the attack, while benching Vinicius Junior. The coach also gave Trent Alexander-Arnold his first start since August.

The England international missed several weeks injured and is yet to find form following his summer switch from Liverpool.

Alexander-Arnold was also partly to blame for Febas’s goal, with the midfielder sneaking in behind him to break the deadlock in the second half.

Elche sets the tone

Elche impressed against Barcelona a few weeks ago and gave Madrid a tough night at the Martinez Valero stadium.

Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois made a fine early save to deny Andre da Silva after Hector Fort teed him up.

The forward was involved in an unfortunate incident earlier in the day at Real Madrid’s annual general meeting, when Los Blancos displayed his photograph by accident in a tribute to former Liverpool striker Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva, who both died in a car crash in July.

Former Barca goalkeeper Inaki Pena denied Kylian Mbappe after the French forward broke through on goal and then stopped the French superstar’s volley in Madrid’s best chance of the first half.

Elche stunned Madrid early in the second half with a slick move to take the lead.

German Valera’s superb backheel allowed Febas to dart behind Alexander-Arnold and squeeze a shot across the goal, past Courtois and in off the post.

Alonso responded by sending on Vinicius Jr and then young striker Gonzalo Garcia. Alexander-Arnold earned some redemption with his contribution to Madrid’s equaliser.

His cross was deflected against his own crossbar by a defender and behind for a corner. Alexander-Arnold whipped it in and Bellingham flicked it on into Huijsen’s path to bash home.

Elche took the lead again when Rodriguez caught out Courtois with a powerful drive from the edge of the box.

However, three minutes later Madrid equalised for a second time, with Mbappe only just keeping the ball in for Bellingham to convert from point-blank range.

The England midfielder was in the spotlight back home earlier in the week after he was unhappy to be taken off by national team coach Thomas Tuchel.

Bellingham was not at his best against Elche but was involved in both Madrid goals, highlighting his game-changing ability in the box even when otherwise quiet.

Dominant football win moves defending La Liga champions to second place in the standings, five adrift of archrivals Madrid.

Lamine Yamal, Ferran Torres and Marcus Rashford struck for Barcelona as they earned a 3-1 win over Elche in La Liga to bounce back from last weekend’s El Clasico defeat and move back into second place to trail leaders Real Madrid by five points.

Barca continued to struggle in defence and Elche had chances to cause an upset on Sunday, scoring through Rafa Mir, with the striker also twice hitting the woodwork.

Hansi Flick’s Barca have failed to keep a clean sheet in six consecutive league games, in the midst of an injury crisis.

The champions were missing Pedri, Gavi, and Joan Garcia among others, but were able to bring on Robert Lewandowski and Dani Olmo following spells out of action.

Teenage star Lamine Yamal underwhelmed in last week’s defeat by Real Madrid after coming back from a groin issue, but looked more spritely against Elche.

Coached by Eder Sarabia, a former Barcelona assistant coach under Quique Setien, the ninth-placed visitors came to play and impressed.

Barca took the lead after nine minutes when Alejandro Balde drove forward and fed Yamal in the area.

The winger took a touch to set himself and then whipped a clinical finish past former Barca goalkeeper Inaki Pena, a teammate of his last season.

Three minutes later, Torres doubled the hosts’ advantage, tapping home after Fermin Lopez broke into space down the left and provided an inch-perfect cross.

The striker revealed a T-shirt paying tribute to Valencia, his home region, a year on from the deadly flooding that hit Spain’s east coast.

Lopez and Rashford fired narrowly off-target while Pena saved from Torres as Barca squandered some presentable chances.

Mir pulled a goal back shortly before half-time. Barca tried to catch the forward offside, but he was in his own half when he was played in. Mir bent a shot past Ronald Araujo and Barca goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny and in at the far post.

Torres might have scored again before the interval, but Pena produced a superb save to tip his strike to safety.

Early in the second half, Mir clipped the top of the crossbar with a curling effort as Elche battled well.

Rashford sealed Barca’s victory with a superb finish after Lopez picked him out with a cross, for his second league goal of the campaign.

Veteran goalkeeper Szczesny pushed a Mir effort onto the post to save Barca sweating over their advantage in the final stages.

“It was very important to start strong and intense. From there, we could take the game where we wanted it to go,” Torres told DAZN.

“We knew the type of game they were going to play, and we started very strong. We were a bit off afterwards, but we found our spirit and our intensity again in the second half.”

Follow the build-up, analysis and live text commentary of the football game as Barcelona host Elche at the Olympic Stadium.