Jude Bellingham's return sparks Real Madrid's derby double

On Sunday, they face Rayo Vallecano in La Liga, desperate for three points to stay in the title hunt after drifting further from the summit.

Yet, the spotlight is already shifting to Wednesday's showdown at the Metropolitano against Atletico Madrid, where a Champions League 2024-25 quarter-final berth awaits. Real Madrid hold a slender advantage from the first leg and will stride onto Atletico's patch as slight favourites.

For both matches, Real Madrid have a trump card back in their ranks, Jude Bellingham. The English star has missed three of their last four games but is now raring to go. He sat out La Liga clashes against Girona and Real Betis after a red card in Pamplona, while in Europe, a yellow-card accumulation forced him to watch from the stands during Tuesday's Bernabeu showdown.

Bellingham picked up cautions against Lille and Brest in the Champions League group stage, plus another in the round-of-16 playoff second leg against Manchester City, a match Real Madrid won comfortably. That third booking ruled him out of the last-16 first leg, where Brahim Diaz stepped up with the winning goal. Still, manager Carlo Ancelotti has made it clear: Bellingham's place in the starting XI isn't under threat.

Since joining Real Madrid from Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2023, Jude Bellingham has been a revelation. In his debut season, he smashed 23 goals and laid on 13 assists, an outrageous return for an attacking midfielder. This term, he's already hit double figures again, with 11 goals and 11 assists, cementing his status as a talisman.

"He's a game-changer," Ancelotti said earlier this season. "His numbers speak for themselves, but it's his all-round impact that sets him apart." Fans have taken him to their hearts, serenading him with a Beatles classic, "Hey Jude," every time he celebrates a goal with his trademark arms-outstretched pose.

But there's a flip side. Discipline remains Bellingham's Achilles' heel. This season, he's racked up nine yellow cards, already one more than last year's total, and that red card against Osasuna, flashed by referee Munuera Montero, landed him a two-game La Liga ban. Real Madrid dropped points in one of those, losing to Real Betis last weekend, which saw them slip from the top spot. It wasn't his first dismissal either.

Last season, at Valencia's Mestalla, referee Gil Manzano sent him off for protesting after a late goal was controversially chalked off. "It's a fxxking goal," Bellingham fumed at the official. His latest red came with similar venom, reports vary between "fxxk you" and "fxxk off", and Real Madrid's appeal fell flat.

Disciplinary woes aside, Bellingham's return is a massive boost. His knack for goals and assists grabs headlines, but his ability to break lines, press relentlessly, and win the ball back is just as vital. "He's a complete player," former Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata said recently on X. "You can't take your eyes off him." With two derbies looming, Ancelotti and the Real Madrid faithful are buzzing, and rightly so.

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