Bellingham “disappears” at Real Madrid: Is it Mbappe’s fault?

Spanish media expressed disappointment when star Jude Bellingham has been performing extremely poorly at Real Madrid since the beginning of the season.

Joining the Bernabeu team from Borussia Dortmund last summer with a “huge” transfer fee of up to 88.5 million pounds, Jude Bellingham had a dream opening season in 2023-2024. He scored 23 goals and 13 assists in just 42 matches, becoming one of the important factors helping Real Madrid win the “treble” of La Liga, Champions League and Spanish Super Cup.

However, since the beginning of the 2024-2025 season, the 21-year-old England international has not scored once in La Liga. If counting the last two rounds of last season, Bellingham has not scored in 11 consecutive matches in La Liga. Marca pointed out that at the same time last season, Bellingham had scored 10 goals, which is why the newspaper used the phrase “from 10 to zero” when referring to the Real Madrid midfielder.

 

According to Marca, “Los Blancos” fans have not seen Bellingham’s open-armed celebration for a long time, which has become his own symbol. “Bellingham now often folds his arms because he has not had the opportunity to open his arms to celebrate since May. There is no longer the image of Bellingham scoring every time he touches the ball,” the newspaper analyzed.

The newspaper also said that Bellingham is blaming himself for his scoreless streak, so he often reacts strongly to his teammates. Many times since the beginning of the season, he shouted when he saw Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappe not supporting the defense. Most recently, in the match against Celta Vigo, Bellingham was furious because Vinicius did not pass to him at the far post in an open position.

The reason Bellingham hasn’t scored yet is partly due to the presence of Kylian Mbappe. Last season, the English midfielder was played as a false nine, often entering the penalty area and finishing, so he scored many goals. After nine games last season, he finished 25 times, while this season he has only had 16 chances.