Jude Bellingham is the leader of leaders at Real Madrid

Jude Bellingham has never lost his place at the Bernabeu, despite the talk at Real Madrid often revolving around Vinicius Junior or Kylian Mbappe.

During the first 3 months of the season, he seemed to fade away when he had to “give the spotlight” to the French striker, both in the media and on the pitch, due to being arranged to play lower in coach Carlo Ancelotti’s 4-4-2 formation.

During that time, Bellingham also failed to score in 13 consecutive games, including disappointing defeats to Barcelona and AC Milan, before scoring his first goal in early November, in a 4-0 win over Osasuna.

However, the English midfielder has just won the Maradona award at the Global Soccer awards ceremony in Dubai, despite not being the main character in the comeback against Valencia in the 12th round of La Liga last weekend.

In that match, Vinicius became the center of controversy again, while Bellingham continued to disappoint fans when he missed a penalty kick early in the second half, missing the chance to equalize 1-1. However, Bellingham did not let that mistake defeat him. He quickly proved his worth as a big star, a leader that Real Madrid always needed, especially in the context of Luka Modric’s retreat, while Mbappe and Vinicius could not take on this role.

“Jude Bellingham is the embodiment of the handbook for the perfect Real Madrid footballer. He is technically and physically superior, possesses exceptional goalscoring ability and, above all, is a natural leader,” journalist Carlos Forjanes commented in AS.

Bellingham’s decisive goal in Real Madrid’s win over Valencia at the Mestalla was testament to that, having cleverly set up Luka Modric 20 minutes earlier to level the score at 1-1, despite missing a penalty.

“I was angry because I missed the penalty. I felt like I let the team down, and I owed them that goal at the end,” Bellingham said after the match.

It was that mistake that motivated the 21-year-old midfielder to shine. He led his teammates through the difficulties, especially when Vinicius was sent off after colliding with Valencia goalkeeper Dimitrievski.

The most striking thing about Bellingham’s leadership is his naturalness. He doesn’t need to shout or try to the spotlight. He doesn’t need to monopolize the ball, but Bellingham still makes his teammates respect him and recognize him as a true leader.