Bellingham Real's 'last piece to the puzzle’

Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham has got off to a sparkling start for the Los Blancos in the 2023-24 season.

The 20-year-old scored twice and produced another masterful display in a 4-0 La Liga home win over Osasuna on Saturday, with the England midfielder reaching an astonishing 10 goals in his first 10 starts for his new team in all competitions.

Eight of those goals have come in the La Liga helping Real to the top of the table with eight victories in nine games. His tally so far has taken him to the top of the goal-scoring charts in the Spanish League and his goals have proved to be decisive in six of those contests.

Ten goals scored from 19 shots showed extraordinary effectiveness from the 20-year-old Bellingham who has made his transition to Spanish soccer look ridiculously easy.

He equalled Cristiano Ronaldo's splendid start at Real Madrid with 10 goals in his first 10 games in all competitions but managed to better the Portuguese star's stats by providing three assists against Ronaldo's one. "The first came from a brutal play by Modrić and Carvajal. I got into the box, picked up the ball, looked for a gap and hit it with my left foot. It was a good shot. In the second, I linked up well with Fede and beat the goalkeeper. Two good goals thanks to team play. I was there to put that last piece to the puzzle. It's always nice to score and even more so when you win," he told Real Madrid TV after the game.

Bellingham has found the net twice in the Champions League this season for Real and both the strikes helped the 14-time winners to win their first two group-stage matches against Union Berlin and Italian champions Napoli.

"It's been a great start to my life here in Madrid. You have all helped me a lot, the club staff, my teammates and the fans. I'm very grateful. I'm not going to score in every game, but I have to try to maintain this level to try to win as much as possible," he said.

The former Borussia Dortmund skipper also shared a pre-match ritual he follows ahead of games to get him into the mindset of delivering performances for his side.

"I like to visualise the game. I see the pitch, the grass, my playing position... That way I feel calmer, I know where I'm going to be on the pitch. It's something I've been doing throughout my career and thanks to that I go into matches without nerves and am prepared for everything. I was taught this from a very young age and I still practice it."