MADRID: Jude Bellingham scored on his league debut to help Real Madrid to a 2-0 win at Athletic Bilbao to kick off their LaLiga season.

Real opened the scoring in the 28th minute after a mistake from Athletic’s defence, who failed to clear a challenge won against Dani Carvajal inside the box. Rodrygo was fast enough to react and recover the loose ball, netting a clever finish between goalkeeper Unai Simon and the near post.

Player-of-the-match Bellingham then scored on his debut, netting a delightful volley eight minutes later after latching onto a David Alaba corner with an arching shot which looped over Simon and into the top right corner.

Real were in total control but were wasteful in the second half and missed several opportunities to extend their lead through Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo and Bellingham.

But they also lost defender Eder Militao, who left the pitch in tears with what looked like a left knee injury five minutes after the break.

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