Jude Bellingham said he’s enjoying the “freedom” of a new role under coach José Mourinho after scoring in Real Madrid‘s 4-0 win over Málaga on Sunday.
The England star opened the scoring at the Bernabéu in the 19th minute with a low shot from the right — and then played a key role in Madrid’s second when the visitors’ defence couldn’t keep out his goalbound header — to make it three wins out of three in LaLiga so far this season.
Bellingham has contributed two goals and two assists in those three games, with Mourinho praising him as an “absolutely incredible player” after Sunday’s match.
“Now I’m a bit more free, with the freedom to move further up, and drop deep if we need it,” Bellingham told Real Madrid TV when asked to explain his role in Mourinho’s team.
“I’m enjoying it a lot. That’s why I’m playing well.”
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Bellingham scored in Madrid’s 2-1 win at Espanyol in their first game of the season, and then created two goals in their 4-1 midweek victory over Real Sociedad, before another impressive performance on Sunday.
However the midfielder voiced his disappointment at the way the game ended, after Madrid had led 3-0 after half an hour, and only added a fourth goal in the 91st minute.
“It was a great game, but the last 20 minutes were really bad, really bad,” Bellingham said. “I don’t know why, we weren’t good.”
“He’s very demanding with himself, and with the rest,” Mourinho said in his post-match news conference. “I like that a lot. I’ve told him that with my way of seeing football, I don’t want to see him playing as a second left-back.
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“With Benfica, when we won [against Real Madrid in the Champions League], that kept happening, Jude dropping deep on the left. He knows what he has to do. He feels comfortable doing it.”
Bellingham received an ovation from the Bernabéu crowd when he was substituted in the 87th minute.
“It’s very special, always,” Bellingham said. “It’s an honour to play for this club, at this stadium. The ovation was really nice.”
Mourinho said he’s happy with the chemistry Bellingham, Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior are showing on the pitch.
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“Very good players want to play together,” the coach said. “They want to play with people who have the same quality, the same speed of thought. Before I arrived, people said a lot ‘Mou doesn’t want this, or that, the three are incompatible, and I’ve always said I want the best players … All I see is that they’re all really good.”
Coach Mourinho made five changes to his team on Sunday, with Marc Cucurella, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Antonio Rüdiger, Eduardo Camavinga and Brahim Díaz coming in.
“We have a really strong squad, a great team, with quality everywhere,” Bellingham said.
“When the boss wants to make a change, the other [players] who didn’t play the other day are ready. That’s why we played so well today.”
