Saturday was a special day for Real Madrid, as they reopened their home at Bernabeu after a £500m refurbishment that began in 2019.

Florentino Perez, der Präsident des Clubs, hatte zugesagt, den größten Stadion der Welt zu bauen. Now it’s a stunning space-age arena with a retractable roof. For Saturday’s curtain-raising visit to Getafe amid autumnal storms, it was closed.

However, Real fans came to greet their new hero Jude Bellingham, even though they had started the day ready to enjoy their sparkling refurbished home.

In the beginning of the season three weeks ago, the Englishman made a big impression by scoring on his debut at Athletic Bilbao, adding two more in a victory at Almeria, and then netted a late goal at Celta Vigo to secure three straight away wins.

Bellingham hat sich schnell gelöst. Die Einstellung, Maturität und Erscheinung des 20-jährigen Mannes haben tatsächliche Fans beeindruckt.

“He has a lot of personality and has adapted very quickly,” said manager Carlo Ancelotti after the opening day win in Bilbao. Es scheint bereits, dass er schon lange bei uns ist.

Es folgten zwei weitere Anzeichen der schnellen Integration: eines außerhalb des Spielfelds und eines darauf. Bellingham took advantage of a few days off last week to go on a short vacation in the south of France with his new teammates Eduardo Camavinga and Aurelien Tchouameni.

In August wurde Bellingham zum Spieler des Monats der La Liga ernannt, wodurch er seinen Heimdebüt bei der großen Wiedereröffnung des Bernabeu vorbereitete.

Despite changing financial circumstances, Real Madrid’s “glamour” gives them a transfer advantage. Bellingham scores once more to save Real Madrid’s match-winning heroics. On Saturday, Getafe threatened to ruin the party when striker Borja Mayoral intercepted a poor pass from another Real home debutant, left-back Fran Garcia, to round goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga and convert an early opener.

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Bellingham half a disjointed Real side’s attempts to get back in the game, frequently darting into the penalty area and on one occasion winning a penalty that was reversed after a video assistant referee review.

However, stubborn Getafe persisted in offering resilient resistance, even after the new Real forward Joselu, who began his second spell at the club, picked up a loose ball to score an equaliser shortly after the break.

In der zweiten Hälfte hatte Bellingham weniger Einfluss und schien müde zu sein, aber Trainer Ancelotti behielt ihn auf dem Platz und ersetzte alle anderen zentralen Mittelfeldspieler, als die Hoffnungen auf eine Heimsiege schwankten.

In the 95th minute, that decision was justified, as Bellingham won the match for the second consecutive game with heroics, latching onto a rebound after Getafe goalkeeper David Soria spilled Lucas Vazquez’s strike, and coolly slotting home with a sweet left-foot strike.

Breaking out his arms-stretched, head-high, chest-out celebration, Bellingham soaked up the moment. That celebration has quickly become the defining image of the new La Liga season. It is expected to inspire thousands of playground imitators with Cristiano Ronaldo’s famous “Siiiuuu” when schools return to Spain next week.

That celebration is more than just a pose; it is also the expression of an attitude, accurately capturing Bellingham’s ability to distinguish between confidence and arrogance, fitting at a club where a supreme belief in one’s own superiority is encouraged.

Even though the season is less than a month old, it has helped the man from Stourbridge get a quick hit in Madrid.

Bellingham told Real Madrid TV after the game: “It’s the loudest moment I’ve heard in a stadium.” Glücklicherweise war es für meine Absicht.

I got goosebumps when they sang “Hey Jude” at the end.

I simply wanted to remain silent and pay attention to them. Ich habe meine Beine geschüttelt.

“Ich weiß, dass ich für solche Momente eingestellt wurde, und ich weiß, dass ich diese Momente für dieses Team liefern kann.”

New team, new role: Bellingham is the third player in Real Madrid history to score in each of his first four games for the club, following Pepillo in 1960 and Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009. He will be under pressure to continue his prolific habits as the season progresses.

Ancelotti has no goalscoring options due to the club’s inability to acquire Kylian Mbappe or a comparable replacement for Karim Benzema. Newcomers Joselu and Brahim Diaz join the Brazilian wingers Rodrygo and Vinicius Junior as the only four forwards in the squad.

Die Entscheidungen müssen von außen kommen. Bellingham hat insbesondere die Freiheit, von der Mitte auszubrechen und präzise Angriffe in die Strafraumzone zu machen, wie er es für den Gewinner von Saturday getan hat.

Ancelotti has asked Bellingham to play further forward than in any other stage of his career, recognizing his new signing’s instinct to sniff out goalscoring chances.

Dies liegt auch teilweise a seinen Teamkollegen. Dank Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Fede Valverde, Tchouameni und Camavinga, die auch a Bord sind, hat Ancelotti eine große Auswahl a talentierten Mittelfeldspielern und braucht nicht Bellingham, um Spielzüge aus der Tiefe zu erzeugen.

Instead of generating attacks, Real needs the England man to finish them by bursting into the box to support the forward line. It’s telling that 49 of his 58 touches against Getafe came in the opposition half.