Bellingham leads youth movement at Real Madrid as Modric takes a diminished role
BARCELONA, Spain: Led by Jude Bellingham playing with a style and self-confidence far beyond his 20 years, a new generation of Real Madrid players has stepped forward at the 14-time European Cup winners. All three of Madrid’s players who helped produce goals in their 3-2 comeback at Napoli in the Champions League group stage on Tuesday were 25 years old or younger. And they did so with their veteran teammates now providing supporting roles. Bellingham set up 23-year-old Vinícius Júnior to cancel out Napoli’s opener before the England midfielder made a spectacular solo run to put the visitors ahead in the 34th minute. After Napoli had pulled level, Madrid’s 25-year-old midfielder Federico Valverde unleashed a rocket of a shot that ricocheted off the bar and Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret before eventually going in for the 78th-minute winner. Bellingham had scored several big goals already for Madrid this season, but his overall performance at Napoli’s Stadio Diego Armando Maradona was his best so far. He started by robbing the ball from Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo and sliding it to Vinícius for the Brazil winger to slot home the equalizer from an angle.
