VINICIUS JR likened Jude Bellingham to Cristiano Ronaldo after Real Madrid’s 2-1 victory at Barcelona.
But stats from the pair’s respective first ten LaLiga games suggest that Bellingham might be even better.
The 20-year-old scored both goals, a 25-yard screamer and a last-gasp winner, as Real Madrid overturned a 1-0 deficit at Barca this afternoon.
After his pal’s latest heroics, Vinicius Jr gushed: “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.”
Ronaldo, now 38, arrived at Real Madrid in a then-world record £80million transfer from Manchester United in 2009.
Having turned 24 earlier that year, the Portuguese had already earned a Ballon d’Or, won the Champions League and three Premier League titles when he rocked up at the Bernabeu.
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By contract, Bellingham arrived in the Spanish capital in a £115m switch from Borussia Dortmund aged just 20, without the honours that Ronaldo had already accrued.
But the midfielder has taken to life at the Bernabeu incredibly, possibly even better than Ronaldo did.
Bellingham has scored ten goals in his opening ten LaLiga games, compared to Ronaldo’s tally of seven.
The former Red Devil’s start to life in Spain was interrupted by an ankle injury, and he only completed the full 90 minutes in just five of his first ten matches.
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Ronaldo managed just one assist in this period, while Bellingham has laid on two so far this term.
The Stourbridge-born star has managed a greater efficiency, scoring ten goals from just 24 shots, compared to Ronaldo’s seven from 60.
Bellingham has hit the target 17 times, while Ronaldo was accurate with 22 of his 60 efforts.
The Portugal star was averaging a goal every 112 minutes, compared to Bellingham’s astonishing tally of 86.
But the England ace will do mightily well to keep ahead of Ronaldo’s pace for long.
CR7 went on to manage a mind-boggling 450 goals in 438 appearances for Real Madrid between 2009 and 2018.
He scooped a further four Ballons d’Or in this period, while also winning the Champions League four times with the Spanish giants.
Ronaldo also earned two LaLiga titles and and a pair of Copas del Rey.
Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti has predicted a goal tally for Bellingham this season.
Remarkably, Bellingham has already bettered Madrid legend Zinedine Zidane’s best ever LaLiga season goal tally of nine.
After today’s triumph, Ancelotti 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.”
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Speaking to DAZN, Bellingham’s team-mate Luka Modric added: “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!”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
