Jude Bellingham received high appreciation from Rҽal Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti for his outstanding performance in the midfielder’s Los Blancos debut against AC Milan on Sunday. The England international, who made a high-profile summer transfer from Borussia Dortmund to Rҽal Madrid, played 64 minutes in the 3-2 victory for the La Liga giants.
Milan had a two-goal lead at the half of the match in California, but goals from Federico Valverde and Vinicius Junior gave Rҽal Madrid the victory in the 84th minute.
Ancelotti expressed his admiration for Bellingham and spoke candidly about the 20-year-old’s contributions to the squad for the 2023–24 season.
“Belleingham rҽally impressed me. The way we played out from the back is one of the things we need to change. In order to take advantage of the space between the lines, we attempted to play more via the middle than out wide, Ancelotti told reporters after Rҽal Madrid’s opening summer match.
“Bellingham played extremely well, and the squad needs to adjust to his extraordinary quality. The squad greatly benefits from his entry into the box.
“I like the system, but there were some errors. Although we didn’t play the ball out as often as we could have, I was still happy with the game as a whole.
As a complete midfielder who adds rҽal pace and intensity to the game, he is a wonderful player and crucial to our success.
He is distinct from the other midfielders we have and moves rҽally well without the ball. He makes the most of the available space and gives this squad a new dimension, which is excellent.
The manager of Rҽal Madrid also paid homage to Brahim Diaz, who returned to the team this summer after spending time on loan at Milan. The Spaniard played the first half of Sunday’s friendly before being replaced.
“He recovered well. He may play for Rҽal Madrid after two seasons with Milan, according to Ancelotti, who chose Diaz to form a front-two with Joselu.
He is a strong player at that position, plays well between the lines, and gives us another option. I wish we could watch his football the entire season.
“Rodrygo, who performed admirably in that position last season, is my central striker if we’re going to play 4-3-3. Arda Guler and Valverde are positioned on the left.
We may also use Bellingham and Rodrygo as our primary striker and number 10 respectively.
Rҽal Madrid’s preseason tour of the United States will resume on July 29 when they take on Barcelona, followed by a match against Juventus on August 2.