Barcelona star admits Bellingham 'has conquered the league'
Cameron Smith
- Updated: 15 Oct 2023 14:29 BST
- 4 min read
Barcelona defender Andreas Christensen has admitted that Jude Bellingham’s start to life at Real Madrid has been “annoying” for the Blaugrana.
Bellingham, 20, joined Barca’s biggest rivals for €103 million from Borussia Dortmund this summer and has scored 10 goals in just 10 games for his new club.
Furthermore, the England international has also provided three assists in all competitions as Real Madrid sit top of both La Liga and Group C in the Champions League.
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He has essentially replaced Karim Benzema in Los Blancos’ starting XI and while Carlo Ancelotti has been keen to stress that Bellingham is not a striker, his free role at the tip of Real Madrid’s midfield diamond is reminiscent of a centre forward and has led to the best form of his career.
Bellingham has also been the difference between a fairly average start to the season and an excellent one for Real Madrid, something that has frustrated Christensen and Barcelona.
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What has been said?
Christensen was asked about Bellingham while on international duty with Denmark and admitted his impact has been huge at the Santiago Bernabeu.
He told Danish television channel TV2 Sport, via AS: "It’s annoying when you sit back and look at the results he’s getting.
“Then he has been scoring in the last few games, I don’t know how many games already. He has conquered the league. Real Madrid has brought in a really good player.”
Christensen is not the only player to have been left in awe by Bellingham’s start to life at Real Madrid either.
The former Dortmund star’s international team-mate Kieran Trippier has admitted that Bellingham will be key to England’s hopes at next summer’s European Championship and future tournaments.
"If you play well there in Madrid, the fans will love you,” Trippier said to the media ahead of the Three Lions’ Euro 2024 qualifier against Italy. “It's no surprise to me how he's started there because Jude is frightening.
“Jude did unbelievable at Dortmund. He's taken that experience with him. You see he's playing with a freedom and the players around him are going to make his standards get even better.
"The most scary thing is he's only 20 years old. He can be the difference. But if you look throughout the whole team, from 2018 to now we've taken massive steps.
“We lost in the Euros final, but the most important thing is we're progressing, we're doing very well. We've got players who can change games, we've got goals from all over the pitch.
“Jude, Madders (James Maddison), obviously Bukayo (Saka), Phil (Foden), they can change games in certain moments. They're still young. Representing England is a big thing but these guys are playing at the top level.”
