New Delhi, April 22 -- It was the Englishman again who made the difference in El Clasico. Jude Bellingham, one of the finest young footballers in the world at present, scored in stoppage time to help Real Madrid do the double over Catalan giants Barcelona in La Liga on Sunday night.The tie at the Santiago Bernabeu was heading for a 2-2 draw when Bellingham breathtakingly scored the winner for the home team in stoppage time. In the first round of El Clasico in October last year, Carlo Ancelotti's men had emerged triumphant 2-1 with both the goals for them coming from none other than Bellingham.In such a short time, Bellingham has become a massive force at Real Madrid. There are not many 20-year-old footballers in the world who can be considered in the same league. Bellingham, starting from humble beginnings, learnt his football at Birmingham City in England and rose through their ranks to eventually make it to their first team in 2019.After he helped them avoid relegation to League One, the next year Borussia Dortmund came knocking at their door and swept him away - against his wishes though -- to Germany where he played three seasons for them and finished in the top-three with them every time.

Last year the Spanish giants, undoubtedly the biggest club in Europe, brought him on board and Bellingham has had the time of his life since. He wears the jersey number 5 which was once worn by Real Madrid and France legend Zinedine Zidane. Actually, Bellingham has quite a few things in common with Zidane. Like Zidane, Bellingham is a midfielder and born in June under the zodiac sign Cancer. It was only the question of whether, in terms performance, he would be able to match some of Zidane's exploits, and so far he has shown he is on the right track. Zidane is impressed and there can't be a bigger thing for Bellingham than that! The World Cup winner and former Real Madrid manager said in an interview earlier this year: "He [Bellingham] is an unbelievable player who does incredible things. You could have imagined what he was going to do, but he's surpassed all the statistics with what he's doing. I'm a big fan of his and now we want him to win trophies with Real Madrid. "Bellingham has scored 17 goals in the league in 25 games -- and 21 goals across competitions -- besides providing four assists. He has played five games fewer than leading scorer Artem Dovbyk of Girona who has 18 goals to his name. Bellingham's record is comparable to that of 21-year-old Chelsea man Cole Palmer who has scored 20 goals and provided nine assists in 28 appearances this season in the Premier League. Real had paid 103 million euros for Bellingham.

At the time, it looked like very good money for Bellingham but the way he has progressed and contributed to Real's dominance, one can say now it was a steal for Los Blancos. There is no bigger contest in La Liga than El Clasico and in both the matches this season, Bellingham has proved he is made for big contests, a big-match player to all intents and purposes. Not many Real players can boast of scoring in their first two La Liga El Clasico encounters. The last time it was achieved by Dutchman Rudd van Nistelrooy way back in 2007. Last year in October, Bellingham, who was also part of the England squad that reached the quarterfinals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, had won the Kopa Trophy for the world's best player aged under 21.No Englishman has won the Ballon d'Or in a long time. Only four of them have done it to date with Michael Owen being the last one to have done it in 2001. Many believe Bellingham can be the next one at the next ceremony.With an 11-point lead over second-placed Barcelona and six more rounds of matches to go, Los Blancos look set to win their 36th La Liga title. They are also in the semifinals of the Champions League where they will face Bayern Munich in the first leg on April 30. They have already won the Spanish Super Cup. It appears it's a season of Bellingham and Real Madrid.

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