One could argue that €130 million was a bargain. Jude Bellingham’s man-of-the-match performance earned his team three points.
Real Madrid recorded a 1-0 victory over Celta Vigo in the third round of the 2023-24 Spanish La Liga at the Estadio Valleidos in Vigo, Spain, at 4:30 a.m. ET on Saturday. The win was Real’s third straight in the league and kept them atop the standings.
Real were in trouble from the start. They conceded an early goal to Jorgen Strand Larsen in the third minute, but the goal was overturned after video assistant referee (VAR) review showed that Larsen had interfered with Kepa Arrizabalaga in the box.
After surviving a couple of close calls, injuries struck again. In the 11th minute, Vinicius Junior, one of the team’s main attacking players, went down with an injury, forcing Joselu to come on. In the 21st minute of the second half, Hodriguez was awarded a penalty kick (PK), but he stepped up to take it and hit the ground.
It was Bellingham who broke the deadlock. In the 36th minute, Bellingham took a pass from Joselu and scored his first and final goal of the game. In the end, Real won 1-0 thanks to Bellingham’s goal.
The goal cemented Bellingham as the team’s ace in the hole, with four goals in the opening three games of La Liga. With four goals in just three games in his first season, Bellingham equaled Eden Hazard’s tally in La Liga. Azar, who joined Real in the summer of 2019, has struggled since his first season and has scored just four goals in La Liga over the past four seasons.
Bellingham’s goal-scoring pace is the same as Cristiano Ronaldo’s. “Bellingham’s back-to-back goals put him on par with Ronaldo’s feat of scoring four goals in his first three La Liga games,” explained global outlet Goal.com.
Wearing the No. 5 shirt, Bellingham’s presence on the field sparked nostalgia for the Zinedine Zidane of old. After watching Bellingham’s La Liga debut, the UK’s 토토사이트 Daily Mail raved about his La Liga debut goal: “One Spanish commentator said: ‘It’s like Zidane is back,’ while AS ran the headline: ‘Bellingham is the boss.
Bellingham also chose the number five shirt to carry on Zidane’s legacy, saying on joining Real: “I want to thank Jesús Vallejo (the original number five) for allowing me to wear the number five. I got in touch with him to see if I could keep it, and he was very kind. I have always admired Zidane and the legacy he has at this club with the number five shirt. It’s a number that inspires me. I will try to extend his legacy rather than reach his number.”