Jude Bellingham News...

Wednesday 2nd October 2024 - Champions League - League Stage

Lille 1 Real Madrid 0

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Jude Bellingham shows his frustration, with Real's unbeaten Champions League run ending

A first-half penalty earned Lille a shock 1-0 home victory over holders Real Madrid in the Champions League group phase on Wednesday, ending the 15-times European Cup winners' 14-game unbeaten run in the competition.

Jonathan David converted from the spot three minutes into first-half stoppage time to hand Real, who had not lost in their previous 36 matches in all competitions, their first defeat since January.

Real Madrid: Lunin, Carvajal, Militao (Mbappe 57), Rudiger, Mendy (Garcia 46), Valverde, Tchouameni, Camavinga (Guler 67), Bellingham, Endrick (Modric 57), Vinicus Junior

Subs: Ramon, Mestre, Rodrygo, Vazquez, Vallejo, Gonzalez

Booked: Rudiger, Camavinga, Bellingham, Endrick, Modric

Jude Bellingham has faced criticism in Spain after a drastic 'decline' in form..by Luke Power

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Jude Bellingham's untouchable status at Real Madrid has faded and he is battling critics

This time last season: 10 goals in 11 games. This season: zero goals in nine games. Something is off. Or is it?

Spanish scribes have been quick to detract from the 21-year-old. He has been 'totally overshadowed' by his team-mates and has 'declined', apparently. Bellingham recently combined with Adidas to bring out signature Predator boots, but he has become the prey. No longer untouchable.

Meanwhile, Carlo Ancelotti has shielded his star, saying he has become 'more important' than last year and that he is 'very satisfied' with the Englishman. He isn't the type to bluster.

The truth is that Bellingham's role has changed, and that he is no longer the focal point of this star-studded cornucopia.

In the summer Madrid ended their long-distance dalliance with Kylian Mbappe and tempted him from the banks of the River Seine with a signing-on fee of £85.6million and a club-high £12.8m net salary - admittedly a wage lower than his one at PSG.

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The arrival of Kylian Mbappe means a new expensive toy is on the block at the Bernabeu

Alongside image rights from commercial deals, Mbappe's income won't be far off the annual revenue Madrid drew from the Santiago Bernabeu pre-renovation.

When you invest in a player so forcefully, the landscape on the pitch changes. And so you get a line-up like the one for the UEFA Super Cup final against Atalanta, which saw Mbappe up front flanked by Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo.

Bellingham, deployed for large chunks of last season as a number 10 behind the striker, had to settle for the left portion of a midfield three. And that's basically where he's been shunted all season, out on the left of a three or four, lingering in the shadow of Mbappe and Vini and doing the dirty work.

He knew it halfway through the opening LaLiga game of the season against Mallorca. 'Finish the attacks because the running back is f***ing hard,' he told the front trident.

That frustration has continued. In the 2-1 win over Celta Vigo on Sunday, he gestured furiously and kicked the turf after Vinicius Jr chose to shoot rather than put it on a plate for him. Behold: the illustration of his diminished stature. Ancelotti has had to pour freezing water on rumours of a rift.

Of course, Bellingham would sometimes operate out on the flanks last season, but he had much more freedom to roam across the final third, rather than sitting tight and waiting to respond to threats.

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The Spanish press have accused him of declining but in truth his role has changed dramatically

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Madrid are vulnerable to counter-attacks now that they've added Mbappe, whose languid approach to defending frustrated manager Luis Enrique. 'The day you cannot attack, you need to be the greatest defending player of all time. That's a leader. That's Michael Jordan,' Enrique said as he called out Mbappe in front of the squad.

Bellingham does have help in the Madrid midfield, but he is often the first line of defence if an attack falters. It's not all about box-crashing runs this season, but anticipating problems. Putting out fires before one is lit.

'He works very hard, he competes, fights, sacrifices himself. The truth is that he has not scored as many goals as last year, but the surprise is not this year, the surprise was last year,' said Ancelotti.

'Last year he scored a load of goals, that nobody expected. Now, he is helping a lot still. The problem this year is not the lack of Bellingham’s goals, we have always scored goals and we always will, because we have a great amount of talent up front. For us, right now, the work he is doing is much more important.'

You've also got to give Bellingham some leniency due to fatigue. At the Euros, he complained of being 'absolutely dead', which sounds quite a prohibitive circumstance to be dealing with.

After the final defeat against Spain, he elaborated: 'It’s so tough with crazy schedules and then coming together for the end of the season for one last tournament. It’s difficult on the body – mentally and physically you are exhausted. But for our country we wanted to give everything.'

PFA chief Maheta Molango told Mail Sport over the summer that Bellingham had played around five times the number of minutes that David Beckham had at the same age. He made 55 appearances for club and country last season.

You can't blame him for feeling burned out, but unfortunately the demands are only going to get worse, so it's a case of sucking it up.

And that's the attitude that must define his next chapter at Los Blancos.

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At the Euros he complained about being 'absolutely dead' due to the physical demand