The China Mail - Rodrygo, Bellingham fire Real Madrid to win over Brest

Rodrygo opened the scoring in the first half for a Real side missing the suspended Vinicius Junior, and Bellingham doubled their lead early in the second half, shortly after a valiant Brest side had been denied an equaliser by a tight offside call.

Rodrygo then wrapped up the win late on after a Kylian Mbappe effort was saved.

Carlo Ancelotti's side lost three of their first five matches in this new, expanded Champions League, raising fears that they could be eliminated before the knockout phase.

However, they have finished with three consecutive victories, and have also claimed five straight wins in all competitions since a 5-2 pasting at the hands of Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup final in Saudi Arabia on January 12.

Madrid began the day in 16th place in the standings, but were just a point outside the top eight, while Brest had also already sealed a place in the knockout phase and were a point better off than their opponents.

Not enough other results went Real's way in order for them to climb into the spots offering a direct path into the last 16, and so they and Brest will now have to come through a two-legged play-off tie in February, with the draw this Friday.

Much of the attention in Guingamp, Brest's base for Champions League home games this season, was on Mbappe, with the France captain back in his home country.

Mbappe was loudly jeered when the teams were read out before kick-off and also with every touch of the ball during the game.

He was unable to mark the occasion with a goal, despite arriving here in superb form, with eight goals in his last five matches across all competitions.

Brest started well, but their fans were silenced when Rodrygo cut into the box from the left and finished low across the goalkeeper and in off the far post to make it 1-0 just before the half-hour mark.

The French side thought they had equalised six minutes after the interval when Ludovic Ajorque poked the ball home via a deflection, but the effort was ruled out for a tight offside, cutting short the celebrations.

Instead it was 2-0 for Real on 56 minutes later, with Bellingham sparking a breakaway and then arriving in the box to finish off Lucas Vazquez's low centre.

Rodrygo then scored again on 78 minutes, claiming a brace in a second straight Champions League game, after Mbappe's shot was saved.

A.Sun--ThChM