Former Real Madrid star Marcelo and Jadon Sancho were mighty impressed by Jude Bellingham's late goal in Los Blancos' 3-2 win against Barcelona on Sunday (April 21).
The game kicked off with Andreas Christensen opening the scoring early (6'), after which Vinicius Junior leveled proceedings from the spot in the 18th minute. However, the Blaugrana went ahead yet again in the second half through Fermin Lopez's 69th-minute strike.
Lucas Vazquez, who won the penalty for Vinicius' first-half goal, brought the game back to parity in the 73rd minute. Eventually, it was Bellingham who decided the tie, as he struck a close-ranged left-footed shot (90+1').
Reacting to England international's strike, Marcelo commented with three shocked emojis.
Sancho, who has shared the pitch 35 times with Bellingham for Borussia Dortmund and England, managing one joint goal contribution, wrote in the comments section:
"Him."
The 20-year-old midfielder has been sensational since securing a reported €103 million move from Dortmund to Real Madrid before the 2023-24 season.
So far, he's played 36 matches across competitions for the Spanish giants, bagging 21 goals and 10 assists. His latest contribution has helped the Madrid-based team to an 11-point lead at the top of the La Liga standings over second-placed Barcelona.
Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti lavishes praise on Jude Bellingham's performance vs Barcelona
Jude Bellingham's performance in the Classico win against Barcelona drew praise from the club manager, Carlo Ancelotti. The English star recorded an impressive 96% passing accuracy and completed both his attempted dribbles.
Bellingham managed to deliver four of five attempted long balls accurately and made two key passes. Speaking about the midfielder's late goal and performance after the match, Ancelotti said (via Managing Madrid):
"He arrived at the right time, he played a game with a lot of effort, working hard. Now, this goal could be fundamental to winning La Liga."
Bellingham also contributed heavily on the defensive side of things, winning eight of his 10 ground duels and making four tackles. Expect the midfielder to feature for Real Madrid when they travel to Real Sociedad on Friday (April 26) for a league match.
After that, Los Blancos will be at the Allianz Arena to face Bayern Munich in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League semi-final tie next Tuesday (April 30).