JUDE HAS LIT UP REAL EVEN FASTER THAN RONALDO
IT has been quite a week for Jude
Bellingham, his late goal ensuring a draw for
England against Belgium as his stock rises ahead of this summer’s Euros.
Now it is back to helping Real Madrid move a little bit closer to the La Liga title – with the superlatives flowing.
Bellingham (celebrating his England goal, below) is still only 20 but has taken to La Liga even smoother than Cristiano Ronaldo (above) since his move from Borussia Dortmund in the summer.
Real are eight points clear at the top of the table while also counting down to their huge Champions League quarter-final with Manchester City.
Bellingham returns for the league match at home to Athletic Bilbao on Sunday after a two-game suspension, and the speed with which he has got to grips at one of the biggest clubs in world football has come as a surprise to those who watch him every week.
La Liga TV pundit
Andrea Orlandi said “not even Cristiano Ronaldo” made the transition this seamlessly.
Orlandi added: “Yes, Ronaldo did score quite a lot of goals when he joined the club, but you could see that wasn’t the real him up until a couple of months.
“With Bellingham, it was from pre-season, his first game I think he scored. And then in La Liga, it was the same.
“I knew he’d be very good but I thought in three or four years. He comes here and just destroys the league really and decides to be the best player.
“And in a club where Vinicius is there, Rodrigo, Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, he’s gone, ‘I’m the best’.” Bellingham is cementing his place as a cornerstone of the new breed of Galacticos set to be joined by Kylian Mbappe this summer.
His outstretched arms celebration (top) is already an iconic image, although critics accuse him of overconfidence.
Orlandi, who played for Alaves and Barcelona, said: “I call it football arrogance. You can see he’s down to earth but the way he celebrates, ‘I’m Jude Bellingham, I’m here to make the difference’.
“I love that. And you need to have that if you want to be playing for Real Madrid at the level he’s playing.”
An early season scoring rampage has slowed but Orlandi reckons he is improving all the time even in the absence of goals.
“Without him Real Madrid is not the same team,” he added.
“They can still manage to win games, but they don’t have the star player who basically understands every situation that’s happening on the pitch – and that’s very difficult.
“To have that football intelligence and then with that body, being so strong, big, that technical ability as well. He’s got absolutely everything.
“He’s got the No.5 of Zinedine Zidane, he’s just signed for Real Madrid for big money, he’s got huge expectations on him and he just turns up and plays like he’s with his mates on a Sunday. So that tells you how big his personality is. “England has a star.” Watch LALIGA on Viaplay, available in the UK on Sky, Virgin TV, Amazon Prime Video and via streaming.