Bellingham's 87th-minute rescue caps a four-goal thriller as Madrid clings to title hopes

Must Watch Futmetrix Score: 100/100. When the league leader meets a relegation-battler at full Intensity, the script tears itself apart—and this night, nobody won.

Four lead changes in 90 minutes of chaos

The Martínez Valero became a powder keg from kickoff. Elche—tenth place, 16 points, stuttering form—had no business playing Real Madrid, the imperious league leaders sitting on 32 points with just one loss all season. Yet Balance doesn't care about the table. Aleix Febas struck first in the 53rd minute, and suddenly the underdog had the whip. Madrid answered through Dean Huijsen in the 78th—order restored. Except it wasn't. By the 84th, substitute A. Rodríguez flipped the script again. The Stakes had never felt higher.

The 87th minute: Bellingham's salvation

Three minutes from time, Jude Bellingham delivered the equalizer that felt like a reprieve. Teed up by Kylian Mbappé, the Englishman made it 2-2 and sent Madrid's bench into delirium. But football's cruelty arrived in the 90th+6th: Víctor Chust saw red for a foul, leaving Elche down to ten men with nowhere to go. The upset factor had peaked—Madrid kept their unbeaten record alive, but the crown slipped.

Iñaki Peña was the wall between the posts with five crucial saves. Madrid peppered 20 shots—only seven on target—a tell-tale sign of a team desperate but imprecise. Elche's 15 shots, six on target, told a different story: a side playing for survival, not the points, but their dignity.