EVERYTHING that Jude Bellingham touches this season turns to goals.
The England superstar has had a stellar start to life in LaLiga since making his £115million switch to Real Madrid from Borussia Dortmund in the summer.
He has been an instant hit at Santiago Bernabeu, immediately becoming arguably boss Carlo Ancelotti’s most important player.
Today he grabbed his first El Clasico clash by the scruff of the neck, dragging his side to victory from a goal down away from home.
Ilkay Gundogan had fired Barcelona into a sixth minute lead, profiting on slack Real Madrid defending to slot past Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Barca could have doubled their lead shortly after, but only managed to hit the post.
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In the second half, Bellingham took charge.
The 20-year-old smacked a thunderbolt of a strike into the back of the net from all of 25 yards on 68 minutes.
He then produced another magic moment two minutes into stoppage time, winning the game by prodding a close-range effort past Kepa.
The Stourbridge-born star celebrated in what has already become trademark fashion, raising his arms aloft as he was mobbed by Joselu and Antonio Rudiger.
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Bellingham has scored ten goals in as many LaLiga appearances.
Not only is that better than any of his previous season tallies for Birmingham or Borussia Dortmund.
It is also more than the great Zinedine Zidane, who previously wore Bellingham’s No5 shirt at Real Madrid, ever managed in a season.
Zidane’s best LaLiga tally stands at nine, achieved in the 2002-03 and 2005-06 seasons.
Including the Champions League, Bellingham now has 13 goals and three assists from 13 Real Madrid outings.
He also grabbed a goal and an assist in England’s 3-1 win over Scotland, before laying on two in the Three Lions’ 3-1 triumph over Italy.
In today’s game, his Clasico debut, he completed 45 of his 49 passes.
He also had only two shots in the match, scoring with both.
Overall he touched the ball 73 times, primarily popping up on the left of Real Madrid’s midfield.
After the game, Ancelotti gushed over his talisman – even predicting a goal tally for the end of the season.
The Italian said: “He can easily reach 20-25 goals.
“We don’t have in mind that he is a scorer or a striker. He is scoring, but we wait for the rest of us to score goals.
“Bellingham plays like a veteran. He’s got a fantastic attitude. We didn’t want a draw and his equaliser changed the dynamic of the game.
“From then on we had more strength and more energy and they started to show more weakness; until that moment they had been the better side.”
Bellingham’s team-mate Vinicius Jr added: “Jude Bellingham is incredible, he always makes a difference and the fans got used to Cristiano Ronaldo and now one more has arrived for us.”
While Luka Modric told DAZN: “He’s a top boy, with an extraordinary talent. I don’t think even he can believe he’s scoring so many goals…
“I congratulate him and I hope he keeps going, he can’t slow down!”
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Real Madrid’s last-gasp win saw them extend their lead over Barcelona at the top of LaLiga to four points.
Xavi’s reigning champions are third, with surprise package Girona also four points ahead of them and only behind Real Madrid on goal difference.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
