Elche 2-2 Real Madrid (Nov 23, 2025) Game Analysis

Jude Bellingham’s late equalizer helped Real Madrid snatch a point from a dramatic 2-2 draw at Elche and move ahead of rivals Barcelona at the top of LaLiga.

Bellingham scored against his former club in the 87th minute, three minutes after a superb strike from Alvaro Rodriguez, as Elche looked to have secured their first win in six matches.

It was the second time in the game that the hosts had taken the lead, but Alex Fabas’ strike early in the second half was canceled out by Dean Huijsen 12 minutes from time.

The first half was an open contest which somehow ended goalless despite both sides having frequent chances.

Kylian Mbappe should have done better when Raul Asensio blocked him early but he shot wide and at the other end Andre Silva missed German Valera’s cross.

Thibaut Courtois made an excellent save to deny Rafa Mir after Hector Forte stole the ball from Alvaro Carreras.

Real Madrid’s misses mounted as Asensio and Arda Guler failed to find the target and Elche should have taken advantage in the 27th minute when Andre Silva was one-on-one with Courtois. The Portuguese passed the shot and tried to find Mir, but this gave Huijsen the opportunity to knock the ball away.

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Mbappe went clean through at the other end but a poor touch allowed Iñaki Pena to make a save, and when Trent Alexander-Arnold’s cross found him unmarked the goalkeeper again denied the France striker.

The goalkeepers were the primary reason the score remained 0-0 at the break, and Pena picked up where he left off when he got a strong hand to Rodrigo’s shot after the restart.

Instead it was Elche who broke the deadlock in the 53rd minute. Valera’s backheel caught Fébas and he beat Courtois at close range.

Xabi Alonso made a number of changes in search of a spark to get Madrid back on track. Vinicius Junior was among those to come off the bench and the Brazilian scored in the 72nd minute. Instead of trying to find Mbappé, he saw his cross cleared by Alvaro Núñez.

“We talked about it, (Vinicius) understands it, he knows the role and the impact he can have, we’ve done it other times, like against Getafe,” Alonso said of not starting his Brazilian star. “We are not as happy as we could have been, but we want to get good results and get back in good form.”

But the visitors kept up the pressure and were rewarded in the 78th minute when Huijsen pounced on a loose ball after Elche failed to clear a corner.

Elche responded well and Mir and Martín Neto both had chances to take the lead again, before Rodríguez scored with six minutes of normal time remaining.

The former Real Madrid youth player beat Asensio before unleashing a powerful strike from the edge of the box.

The home fans were hoping for a first win over Real Madrid since returning to La Liga in 2013.

But there was a twist in the end as three minutes later Bellingham headed the ball in after being unable to clear Elche’s free kick, with a bloodied Pena unsuccessfully appealing for a foul.

To add to Elche’s frustration, Victor Chust was shown a second yellow card in stoppage time after fouling Mbappé.

“This is football. After good performances, now we got some results we didn’t want,” said Alonso. “We are not happy, because we always want to win. But now we have a lot of games before the end of the year, and we have to think about the next one, analyze what happened today.

“The team is still competing. The context of each game is different. We can improve, we are self-critical, but the team spirit is still good. We have to respond to adverse situations. The result that is not favorable causes criticism and we have to live with that, but we want to improve.”