Real Madrid and England star Jude Bellingham returned to Birmingham City to watch his former club beat Barcelona on penalties following a 2-2 draw. Ethan Laird then scored for the Blues before Barça youngster Pesquer hit the bar.
Jude Bellingham was welcomed back to Birmingham City like a hero on Friday night as he watched his boyhood club triumph on penalties against Barcelona. The £113million midfielder cheered jubilantly as he watched his boyhood club triumph over Real Madrid's bitter rivals, winning on penalties after drawing 2-2 in normal time.
Before kick-off, Birmingham City's official social media account showed Bellingham taking his seat and waving to fans in a touching video captioned: 'Jude. He's home.' Despite arriving at St Andrew's in a white t-shirt, Bellingham finished the match wearing his retired No22 Birmingham jersey, which appeared to give the hosts luck as they pulled off a comeback to force the decisive penalty shootout.
August Priske had earlier given the Blues the lead with his fourth goal in preseason only to see a brace from Egypt striker Hamza Abdelkarim hand the advantage to Barça. Jhon Solís' 68th-minute strike restored parity on the night and forced penalties, where Beadle emerged as the hero. Goalkeeper James Beadle was the hero in the shootout as he saved spot-kicks from Roony Bardghji and Brian Farinas, while Jordi Pesquer crashed his effort into the crossbar to hand Birmingham a 3-2 win on penalties.
Barça were also missing the bulk of their squad due to the World Cup, with coach Hansi Flick forced to name an inexperienced side after a week of training at St. George's Park. The Catalans were without all eight of their Spain internationals who lifted the trophy in North America this summer, while Anthony Gordon, Jules Koundé and Raphinha did not feature, either, although there was a debut for summer signing Karim Adeyemi. Real Madrid and England midfielder Jude Bellingham, a former Birmingham player, joined in the celebrations from the stands, wearing his hometown's shirt as he enjoys some time off after the World Cup.
Bellingham burst through the ranks at Birmingham as a youngster, starring for the U18s as a 14 year old and later making his debut for the U23s at the age of just 15. The midfielder was then promoted to the Blues' senior squad for the 2019-20 season, becoming the youngest first-team player in the club's history at 16 years and 36 days old. After making 41 appearances that campaign, Bellingham joined Borussia Dortmund for a £25m fee and became the youngest player ever to have his shirt retired by a professional club, with Birmingham officially retiring his No22 jersey.