Jude Bellingham was Real Madrid's second top scorer last season, only one goal behind Vinícius Júnior. This season, however, his goal count is still at zero. A sudden plunge from the Golden Boy and EA FC 25' cover star right when the team need goals more?
No, according to Carlo Ancelotti. The coach thinks the thing that was surprising was the amount of goals he scored at the beginning of last season "nobody expected", and not the drought this season, because his role has changed.
"For us, the work he is doing this season is much more important than the goals he scored last year". In the press conference before Real Madrid - Borussia Dortmund, Ancelotti says he's very satisfied by his work, "he puts a lot of effort and sacrifice".
"The problem this year is not the lack of goals by Bellingham, is just the opposite". He says goal is not a problem for them as they have many talented players and will always score goals.
Ancelotti defends Bellingham despite his lack of goal
In the press conference before Real Madrid - FC Barcelona, Ancelotti once more defended Bellingham, saying he is very satisfied about his work and importance to the game. He admitted his goals were important last season, due to Karim Benzema's abscence. This year, they have Mbappé for that. "His goals are not important for us. His qualities are others".
With the arrival of forward Kylian Mbappé and the departure of midfielder Toni Kroos, Bellingham has to adapt to a new scheme and try different positions. In the last matches, he played in the right wing alongside Rodrygo, where Ancelotti believes he can be more dangerous, a channel often emptier due to Mbappé and Vini's preference of the left position.
He came very close to scoring against Borussia Dortmund and changing the sign of the match much earlier than Vinícius's hat-trick. In El Clásico, due to Rodrygo's injury, he might get more chances, although it is expected that Ancelotti will maintain 4-4-2.