Jude Bellingham has hailed Kylian Mbappe as “the perfect teammate” after the French star opened his account at Real Madrid in a UEFA Super Cup victory away to Atalanta. Mbappe scored with a firm shot into the top corner at 68 minutes, having been teed up by Bellingham, to double Madrid’s lead at the Stadion Narodowy as the away side went on to win the points for the victory.
And when he scored, Mbappe became the first Madrid player to score on his debut since last August’s immediate impact of Bellingham against Athletic Bilbao in La Liga. Asked to reflect on Mbappe’s performance, Bellingham told TNT Sport, “He’s brilliant, he’s so sharp and so much technical quality, and, in fact, he’s a great teammate, to be honest. He doesn’t only rely on his quality; he works hard too, so full credit to him.”
Questions—whoever the manager would have to replace Zidane—remained about how manager Carlo Ancelotti would assimilate Mbappe, Bellingham, Vinicius Junior, and Rodrygo into the same team; a question on how this quartet combined much more effectively in the second half. Deployed in a slightly deeper role than during the course of last season, Bellingham led Madrid with 75 touches and three chances created.
“In the first half, we were still adjusting, but in the second, it all came into place. I thought we were brilliant for 40 minutes. It’s going to be a long year if we do well in everything, so we need to enjoy nights like tonight.”
Bellingham said that with patience, he can adapt to new roles and added, “Whatever the coach wants from me, I’ll do it. Hopefully, I’ll always be involved in helping the team win.”
