Why Jude Bellingham’s Real Madrid form isn’t concerning Ancelotti

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Beat Dortmund 5-2 

In a team littered with superstars, Jude Bellingham absorbed the spotlight ahead of Real Madrid’s reunion with Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League. Madrid celebrated their 15th European Cup triumph after beating the Bundesliga side in last year’s final with Bellingham capping an incredible first season in the Spanish capital with an assist against his former side. Everything that Bellingham touched after joining Madrid from Dortmund turned to gold, especially during an incredible start at the Santiago Bernabeu. 

But the 21-year-old has failed to recapture his stunning form of last season and it’s led to speculation in the Spanish press that he’s growing frustrated. Madrid have endured an indifferent start to the season with Carlo Ancelotti struggling to find the perfect balance after the high-profile arrival of Kylian Mbappé. Ancelotti leapt to the defence of Bellingham and Mbappe ahead of their showdown with Dortmund and Madrid produced an unbelievable second-half comeback from two goals down to win 5-2. Bellingham contributed in the second half but his goal drought for Madrid this season extended to ten games and it will be a talking point in Spain ahead of the first El Clásico of the season against Barcelona on Saturday.

Jude Bellingham’s start to 2023/24 and 2024/25 compared

Bellingham couldn’t have dreamed of a better start to life in Madrid after his €113m move from Borussia Dortmund last summer. Ancelotti deployed the England international in a more advanced midfield role than he’d been used at Dortmund and it was a masterstroke by the Italian. Bellingham flourished at the tip of Ancelotti’s midfield diamond and he posted incredible attacking numbers in his opening ten games for the Spanish giants. As the graphic below illustrates, Bellingham scored an exceptional ten goals in his opening ten games for Madrid at an average of more than one per 90 minutes. 

The Englishman also provided three assists and he looked unstoppable with confidence flowing through his veins. Bellingham ended the season with 23 goals and 13 assists in 42 games as he won LaLiga and the Champions League. It was a stunning debut season at Madrid with Bellingham’s market value increasing by €60m to become the joint-most valuable player in the world. But Bellingham’s form has plummeted and he’s failed to score a single goal for Madrid this season, compared to the ten by this stage last campaign – he did score for England against Greece earlier this month.

Why Carlo Ancelotti isn’t concerned by Jude Bellingham’s form

It’s imperative to stress that Bellingham’s exceptional attacking numbers at the start of last season were abnormal but his struggles in front of goal were evident against Dortmund. He misjudged a header from an excellent position on 36 minutes before smashing against the bar just one minute later when he was unfortunate not to score. The Madrid star has played in a variety of roles this season, often less advanced, and while few players possess his self-belief, Bellingham’s inability to find the net has led to frustrations. Ancelotti, however, has rightly pointed to his all-round contributions while highlighting that his attacking numbers last season were a ‘surprise’. 

“We’re satisfied with his work, I’m very satisfied,” said Ancelotti. “He works a lot, he’s always present, he competes, he fights, he sacrifices himself. ‘It’s true he hasn’t scored the goals he scored last year, but the surprise isn’t this year, the surprise was last year, when he scored lots of goals which nobody expected and helped us a lot. The problem this year isn’t that we’re lacking Bellingham’s goals. We’ve always scored goals, and we’ll always score, because we have talented players up front. For us, at this moment, the work he’s doing is more important than the goals he scored last year.” Bellingham was arguably mis-profiled last season and expectations over his attacking contributions became unrealistic. But the perfect time to end his goal drought could arrive on the biggest stage against Barcelona with Bellingham the matchwinner twice in El Clásico last season.