BARCELONA, Nov 24 — Jude Bellingham struck late on to secure Real Madrid a 2-2 draw at Elche on Sunday, keeping his team top of La Liga by a point from rivals Barcelona.
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.
Barca 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.
Atletico Madrid, fourth, scraped a 1-0 win at Getafe earlier on Sunday to keep the pressure on the teams above them.
Real Madrid have failed to win any of their last three matches across all competitions.
“It’s football — after going in a good dynamic we’ve had some results we don’t like, but we know what we want,” Alonso told reporters.
“We’re not happy because we always want to win.”
Alonso gave Trent Alexander-Arnold his first start since August and also benched Vinicius Junior.
The England international missed several weeks injured and is yet to find form following his summer switch from Liverpool.
Alexander-Arnold was partly to blame for Febas’s goal, with the midfielder sneaking in behind him to break the deadlock in the second half.
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 the club 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 twice in the first half, which were the visitors’ best chances.
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 goal, past Courtois and in off the post.
