Jude Bellingham stands, arms outstretched, facing the crowd, celebrating another goal. It’s a pose that LaLiga players, coaches and fans have gotten used to seeing this season. From San Mamés to Balaídos, Montilivi to Montjuic — and, of course, at the Santiago Bernabeu — Bellingham’s 16 goals have helped Real Madrid top the table. Going into Sunday’s El Clasico with Barcelona (stream LIVE on Sunday, 2 p.m. ET, ESPN+), they’re eight points clear of their rivals, with seven games left to play.
Bellingham’s packed 2023-24 highlight reel includes a brace against Barca in the season’s first Clasico, Madrid’s 2-1 comeback win in October, featuring a goal-of-the-season contender and a 92nd-minute winner. In Europe, there was his virtuoso solo effort, carrying the ball from the halfway line, away at Napoli in the UEFA Champions League group stage. Later, there were two goals in February’s 4-0 demolition of Girona, which effectively knocked the Catalan side out of the LaLiga title race and put Madrid in pole position.
There have been setbacks, too. In November, Bellingham dislocated his left shoulder — he still plays with strapping to protect it — and in February, he twisted his left ankle. He was sent off against Valencia for disputing the referee’s decision to blow the final whistle before Bellingham’s header hit the net. His goal scoring suffered.
“The main thing that killed my rhythm was the [ankle] injury,” Bellingham said this week. “Finally I got over that pain in my ankle, played against Valencia, scored what I thought was a perfectly good goal, and got suspended.”
Despite that dip, Bellingham’s performance has surpassed all expectations. “At the beginning I was a bit surprised, I didn’t know much about him,” teammate Antonio Rüdiger said this month. “But, wow, he’s a big personality already, the way he handles himself … I’m not surprised anymore.”
His coach in Madrid, Carlo Ancelotti, agrees: “We weren’t surprised as a player, but we were as a person. Really professional. Really serious. Really humble. For his age, he’s really mature.”
With Madrid closing on the LaLiga title — barring an unlikely late implosion — Bellingham can make a case for being the most influential player in Spain this season. But what has it been like for opponents going head-to-head with him? ESPN spoke to players and coaches who’ve had to face Bellingham on the pitch in 2023-24 to discuss his strengths as a player, and ask how, or if, they can be dealt with.
When the LaLiga season kicked off last August, nobody knew quite how important Bellingham would be for Real Madrid, so soon. He was a €103 million summer signing, but he was also 20 years old, adapting to a new league and a new culture. He’d impressed teammates in pre-season — even veteran teammates like Toni Kroos and Luka Modric, who’ve seen it all — but there were no guarantees of an instant impact.
Then Bellingham scored on his competitive debut, a 2-0 win at Athletic Club on Aug. 12, with a first-time, mishit finish he described as “lucky.” He never looked back. His confidence growing, he went on to score in his first four LaLiga games.
The third of those games was a 1-0 win away at Celta Vigo, on Aug. 25. USMNT midfielder Luca de la Torre started for Celta and was substituted seconds before Bellingham’s 80th-minute winner, an instinctive header from inside the six-yard box, after Kroos’ corner was flicked on by Joselu.
“He’s very good at arriving in the box,” De la Torre told ESPN. “As a midfielder, it’s really difficult to mark for a centre-back, who’s focusing on the striker. He scored against us from just being in the right place at the right time. It can be really hard to defend against. If he can read the game well and know where the bounce is going, you have almost no chance.”
Bellingham’s early-season form extended to a record-breaking 14 goals in his first 15 Real Madrid appearances in all competitions, more than either Cristiano Ronaldo or Alfredo di Stefano, the two biggest names in the club’s history. Then, in Madrid’s first big test of the season, Bellingham came up short. The team lost 3-1 at Atletico Madrid in the derby on Sept. 24. On a bad day for the team — which had plenty of shots (20) but no really significant chances — Bellingham managed just one effort, a tame first-half shot blocked by a defender.
“We were lucky,” Atletico coach Diego Simeone told ESPN. “He’s an extraordinary player, and we were lucky. [Bellingham] has something that’s difficult to spot, and that’s his runs from deep. He’s a midfielder who’s also a forward.
“We always tell defenders the same thing: [Watch the] ball, [watch the] player. There are times when you lose sight of them. You watch the ball, and miss the movement. Or you watch the movement, and miss the ball. And it’s difficult to defend in those circumstances. With his movement, you lose control of the player. And then, where might he show up? It’s no coincidence. He appears, and arrives from deep …. And he’s at a club where he has everything he needs to improve. I like him a lot.”
That derby defeat remains Real Madrid’s only loss in LaLiga this season.
For much of the campaign, Madrid’s closest competition at the top of the table hasn’t come from Atletico or Barcelona, but surprise packages Girona. And, in turn, the Catalans have inspired two of Madrid’s best performances: The 3-0 win at Montilivi on Sept. 30 and a 4-0 victory at the Bernabeu in the return fixture on Feb. 10; Bellingham scored in both.
