JUDE’S REAL BELL OF LA LIGA BALL
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 the Euros.
Now it is back to helping Real Madrid move a little bit closer to the La Liga title, with the superlatives flowing.
Bellingham is still only 20 but he has taken to La Liga even smoother than Cristiano Ronaldo 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 Champions League semi-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 at which he has got to grips at one the biggest clubs in the world 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 said: “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. 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. In a club where Vinicius is there, Rodrigo, Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, he’s gone, ‘I’m the best’.”
Orlandi added: “He has 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.
“That tells you how big his personality is. England has a star.”
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