Carlo Ancelotti hails Jude Bellingham’s quality and Real Madrid’s luck in Champions League win
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Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham celebrating after scoring against Union Berlin in their Champions League match on Sept 20.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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MADRID – Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti was full of praise for Jude Bellingham, after the 20-year-old scored deep into added time to give them a 1-0 win over Union Berlin
The England midfielder, who moved to Real from Borussia Dortmund in June, netted his sixth goal in six games this season.
“Scoring in the last minute is the spirit of this shirt – of not giving up,” the Italian said at the Santiago Bernabeu.
“(Bellingham) has great qualities, it seems he’s got luck too, because the goal is a rebound, but he was there, he arrives from deep, and he’s more switched on than others, he’s got that quality and he’s taking advantage of it.”
Real’s talented midfielder took Zinedine Zidane’s No. 5 shirt in tribute to the Los Blancos great when he arrived, but so far his goals have turned him into Madrid’s de facto Karim Benzema replacement.
“We have the luck that he’s here playing with us and I hope he keeps scoring a lot of goals,” defender Nacho told Movistar.
“It was a complete game, we had a lot of shots, the one thing we had to do was to be aware of their counter-attacks – we’re very happy.”
Ancelotti’s side, 14-time winners of the competition, were thwarted at every turn by their stubborn German opponents, who were promoted to the Bundesliga only four years ago, until Bellingham prodded home at the death.
Real seemed destined to take only a point after Union goalkeeper Frederik Ronnow frustrated them, and Rodrygo and Joselu both hit the woodwork, before Bellingham intervened.
Real have failed to score in only one of their last 68 home matches in the Champions League, and on few occasions at the Bernabeu did they seem as toothless as in the first half.
Without injured forward Vinicius Jr, the Los Blancos attack has lacked dynamism in recent weeks, even as Bellingham’s goals have earned them a 100 per cent record in La Liga after five games.
Ancelotti said the Brazilian winger will return for their La Liga fixture against Las Palmas next Wednesday after suffering a thigh muscle injury in August.
“He’s one of the best forwards in the world. He makes the difference. Vinicius will be back next Wednesday. We’ll see if he makes it for Sunday (against Atletico Madrid),” Ancelotti said.
His opposite number Urs Fischer, meanwhile, said: “I’m disappointed, we were a minute away from taking a point, so you can understand that. But on the other hand I’m very proud of my team’s result, they did everything possible.
“Football is fair – in the 95 minutes Real Madrid clearly ‘won’, but it hurts too if they take your point away in the last minute, because in defence we played well.”
In the other Group C match, Italian champions Napoli also needed a late own goal to see off Braga 2-1.
