Arguably the biggest fixture in Brest’s history was delayed as fog enveloped the pitch, but when things did get going, a familiar foe awaited them in Kylian Mbappe.
The Real striker has netted nine times in 10 previous H2H meetings from his time in France, and twice inside the opening quarter-hour he blazed high and wide when promisingly placed inside the area.
Carlo Ancelotti’s men continued to probe for an opener, and Lucas Vazquez’s pinpoint cross for Rodrygo looked to have provided it, though Marco Bizot produced a fantastic save to deny the Brazilian.
Just a minute later, however, Rodrygo beat the Brest goalkeeper with an arrowed drive that went in off the far post.
The hosts had no interest in wilting under the pressure, and they nearly responded before the interval when Mama Balde’s venomous volley whistled over the crossbar.
After another Bizot stop to deny Mbappé following the restart, Brest thought they’d levelled the contest when Ludovic Ajorque’s shot took a deflection off Aurelien Tchouameni en route to the far corner, but the home crowd was left heartbroken as the strike was ruled out by VAR for a tight offside.
Such is the brutal nature of Real in the UCL, they doubled their advantage just moments later through Bellingham, who started and finished a slick move after being picked out on the six-yard line by Vázquez.
A huge mountain lay ahead of Les Pirates as a result, and Thibaut Courtois was obscuring the view of the summit as he made a fantastic stop to prevent Kenny Lala from reducing the arrears.
Real soon put any comeback hopes to bed, with Rodrygo tucking home the rebound after Mbappé was again denied by Bizot.
A third defeat from four UCL matches means that Brest will have to settle for an unseeded knockout play-off place, as they become the first competition debutants to lose to both Madrid and Barcelona in the same season since Leeds United in 2000/01.
Los Blancos, meanwhile, have rattled in 20 goals in their five straight wins and will be seeded for the play-offs as their slow start ultimately cost them a place in the top eight.