'He is very intelligent' - Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti praises Jude Bellingham's instant impact in La Liga
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Published 26/08/2023 at 10:16 GMT
Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti is delighted with Jude Bellingham's goal scoring prowess but says it's not even the main value that he brings to the team. Shortly after Bellingham's latest goal, a decisive strike in Friday evening's La Liga win over Celta, Ancelotti explained that the England midfielder's most important contribution to the team is his intelligence.
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Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti admitted to being a little frustrated with Rodrygo's missed penalty in Friday evening's victory over Celta Vigo, but he really just wanted to talk about Jude Bellingham.
Bellingham, a €103M summer signing from Borussia Dortmund, has scored four goals in his first three games for the Spanish giants. The latest was the only goal in Madrid's tight win over Celta.
Afterwards, Ancelotti admitted that the England star has made an excellent start.
He said: "Bellingham was good. He keeps on scoring and giving something to the team."
However, the Italian coach was quick to explain that despite his goal scoring heroics, Bellingham's main strengths lie elsewhere.
He said: "I do not think that he (Jude Bellingham) is yet top quality, in the sense of being prolific in front of goal. But he has been performing at a high level. He moves around well without the ball. He is very intelligent. He gets in the right place, in the right spot, at the right moment. And it is not just about his ability in losing his marker, but it is about the whole package".
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While Bellingham's excellent form continues to provide reason for Ancelotti to smile, there was also less positive news in the form of Vinicius Jr's injury.
Madrid's winger was taken off in the 18th minute suffering an apparent thigh injury.
Ancelotti gave more context after the match, saying: "Vinicius has had a problem, we will see what he has in the next few hours. He had some muscular discomfort in his leg. He wanted to continue, so I don’t think it was a very serious thing. I think he will probably miss the game against Getafe and that, with the international break, will give him a chance to rest."
The news that Vinicius will likely be out at least for Madrid's next league fixture prompted the obvious question. Ancelotti was asked whether Real would look to re-enter the transfer market despite Ancelotti having previously said the club's business was complete.
He said: "The attack is fine. You can see it in the data. We have scored six goals without Karim, without Vinicius. We have resources. There are no plans to bring in new players we can score goals without Vinicius, as we did today."
Madrid's narrow victory could have been easier if Rodrygo had successfully converted his penalty midway through the second half but the Brazilian failed to convert the spot kick.
Ancelotti explained afterwards that Rodrygo is not the designated penalty taker and that Luka Modric should have taken it instead.
He said: They don’t have the freedom to decide who takes them. I have told Valverde that Luka has to take them. I don’t know what has happened. They elected Rodrygo and I didn’t have time to tell them that Modric is the penalty taker. I’m a little upset. It may be a misunderstanding. At the time it was difficult to communicate it to the player”.
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