By Trevor Stynes
(Reuters) – Jude Bellingham will hope to cap an impressive week by keeping Real Madrid top of LaLiga and adding to his already impressive goal haul in Spain when his side host Rayo Vallecano on Sunday.
Last weekend Bellingham rescued Real with two goals to steal the Clasico in a 2-1 win at Barcelona as they moved four points clear of the Catalans, and on Monday he won the Kopa trophy for world’s best young player at the Ballon d’Or ceremony.
“To win this trophy means a lot but for me the important thing is team trophies and the important thing for me is to kick on and help Real Madrid and England win trophies for many years,” Bellingham said when collecting his prize in Paris.
To date, the only silverware he has won is the German Cup, but his move to Real should give him much more opportunity, as they look to wrestle back the league title from Barca.
The 20-year-old has made a stunning start to his Real career since signing from Borussia Dortmund. The Real midfielder is the top scorer in LaLiga with 10 goals in 10 games as well as netting another three in the Champions League.
Bellingham scored in each of his first four league games for Real, needing no adjustment to Spanish soccer. His side’s only defeat this season came against rivals Atletico Madrid, but the local derby with Vallecano should be a different story.
Real have hosted their Madrid neighbours 20 times in the league and Vallecano’s only win came back in 1996. Real have won 17 of those meetings, scoring 71 goals, and Bellingham will be relishing the chance to add to his tally.
UNLUCKY GAME
Champions Barca are licking their wounds after the Clasico defeat, which left Xavi Hernandez’s side in fourth place, but must recover for an away game at Real Sociedad on Saturday.
“It was an unlucky game for us, we didn’t deserve to lose. We are frustrated and angry but we have to move on,” Xavi said after his side surrendered an early lead and lost to Bellingham’s added time goal.
“We have to just think about Real Sociedad now, recover and rest. We have to improve where we did not do well, even though we did not deserve to lose and we had the game in our hands.”
Real Sociedad, unbeaten at home this season, are five points behind Barca in fifth but the Catalans have won on their last three league visits to San Sebastian and are undefeated in their last seven LaLiga games there.
Barcelona may be faltering but surprise package Girona have kept pace at the top level on 28 points with Real Madrid.
Their only defeat this season was to Real but they have put that 3-0 loss behind them with three straight wins since then.
On Saturday they travel to Osasuna, who are 15 points behind them in 11th and have lost three home games this season.
Third-placed Atletico, three points off the pace, can close the gap when they travel to mid-table Las Palmas on Friday.
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes; Editing by Ken Ferris)
