Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti praises ‘stupendous’ Jude Bellingham after Clasico double

BARCELONA – Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti hailed Jude Bellingham as “stupendous” after the midfielder scored twice to earn his side a 2-1 fightback win at Barcelona in Saturday’s La Liga El Clasico.

Ancelotti said the 20-year-old Englishman keeps surprising him with his maturity and that he gave Real the spark they needed to recover against a Barcelona side who dominated proceedings before succumbing to two late goals.

Bellingham has now scored 13 goals in 13 games for Real in all competitions.

“(Bellingham) looks like a veteran out there because of his attitude. His first goal changed the dynamic completely of what was a difficult game for us,” said Ancelotti.

“I can’t deny that we are all surprised with his vein of form, especially with his level and his effectiveness. He is everywhere on the field.

“Today he was stupendous and shocked everyone with his wonderful goal from the edge of the area.”

Bellingham, La Liga's top scorer with 10 goals, has made a smooth transition to Spanish football since his arrival from Borussia Dortmund in June.

“Bellingham’s ceiling is easily scoring 20 or 25 goals this season,” the Italian coach said.

“Even though we don’t think of him as a scorer, at the moment he is scoring a lot of goals but we are expecting goals from the strikers as well.”

Midfielder Luka Modric, who set up Bellingham's winner, also praised his teammate.

“It seems like he’s been here a long time, not three months. As they say in Spain, he landed on his feet. He exudes personality, character. It’s no coincidence that he has adapted so well,” the 38-year-old Croat 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!”

Bellingham told Real Madrid TV: “I love these comebacks. It played with my heart a little bit (but) they’re always so fun to play in. We didn’t give up and I’m so happy I could do it.”

Barcelona were boosted by the return of Robert Lewandowski, Jules Kounde and Raphinha from injury, with coach Xavi Hernandez naming them on the bench.

His counterpart Ancelotti once again deployed Bellingham in the No. 10 role as he got his first taste of arguably the world’s biggest club football match.

However, it was another midfielder playing for the first time in the Clasico, Barcelona’s summer arrival Ilkay Gundogan, who broke the deadlock after taking advantage of a poor defensive mistake in the sixth minute.

Fermin Lopez, one of the emerging talent of Barcelona’s La Masia academy, then fired a shot against the post.

Barcelona struck the woodwork again when Inigo Martinez headed Lopez’s inch-perfect cross against the post.

Real were reduced to long-range efforts but eventually one ripped into the net to level the score, with just over 20 minutes remaining.

Marc-Andre ter Stegen could not keep out Bellingham’s blast, which pulled Real level in a game they had struggled to find a foothold in.

Bellingham intervened decisively in stoppage time, in the right place at the right time to finish after Modric diverted Dani Carvajal’s cross into his path.

“The summary is simple. We had 60 very good minutes when we scored a goal, they had 20 to 25 minutes and they scored two,” said Xavi. “I think Real’s victory today is unjust... they were much more efficient than us, that is the big difference.”

Meanwhile, Barcelona said they would investigate alleged racist abuse of Vinicius Jr during the game.

A video published by Spanish media outlets appeared to show a home supporter calling the Brazilian winger a “monkey”, while an object that looked like a banana skin also appeared to be thrown from elsewhere.

Vinicius was also racially abused in Real’s draw at Sevilla on Oct 21, with one fan ejected.

The winger highlighted another video of a child appearing to make a racist gesture at him at the same match.

He has been the victim of racist abuse on multiple other occasions during his time in Spain, although often no action has been taken by the authorities.

Vinicius testified before a Spanish court on Oct 5 via video conference as part of an investigation into alleged abuse he suffered at Valencia in May.

The winger stopped the game at the Mestalla to face off with a fan he believed was abusing him, with Vinicius receiving global support for his actions. REUTERS, AFP