MD11 Man of the Matchday: Jude Bellingham: Borussia Dortmund’s "extraordinarily consistent" teenager who can do it all
Jude Bellingham may have stolen the show with two goals in Borussia Dortmund’s 5-0 thumping of VfB Stuttgart on Saturday, but head coach Edin Terzic and teammate Gio Reyna had words of praise for different areas of his game at the final whistle.
Bellingham struck inside two minutes at the Signal Iduna Park on Matchday 11, sweeping in Niklas Süle’s cross to set the tone for a game which Dortmund dominated from start to finish.
The 19-year-old also scored the most eye-catching goal of the day early in the second half to quash any Stuttgart hopes of a comeback, jinking past Silas before curling into the bottom corner from the edge of the area.
Watch: Jude Bellingham starred for Dortmund against Stuttgart
Two shots, two composed finishes. The only surprise was that they were the midfielder’s first goals in the Bundesliga this season, having not missed a single minute of league action all term.
“I’ve been scoring in all the other competitions, so I finally got two in the Bundesliga,” the England international told bundesliga.com after the game. “And to be fair I’ve already got more than I did last season in all competitions, so I’m just trying to improve every day, every game. I just want to be better than I was yesterday.”
Indeed, Bellingham is now on eight goals in 2022/23 after finding the net in all four UEFA Champions League assignments so far, as well as both DFB Cup outings. He is BVB’s most potent attacker this season.
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You might reasonably expect any post-match analysis, therefore, to centre around Bellingham’s new-found prowess in the final third, yet Terzic was more interested in highlighting other attributes.
“Jude was really good today, along with everyone else, and it was good for him to score right away,” the 39-year-old began.
“He also won a lot of balls for us today. He was really good in our counter-pressing and regained possession for us a lot. He was really very good today. But Jude is extraordinary in that he’s so consistent and he’s still just 19. He does really well.”
Reyna also singled out Bellingham’s reliability when asked for his thoughts on the Dortmund No.22.
“I think in tough times and good times, he’s always there for us performing,” said the USA international, who also registered his first league goal of the campaign against Stuttgart.
“In a difficult season last year for us, he was always there for us every game. He was one of the best players for us all season. And being third-choice captain [after Marco Reus and Mats Hummels] at 19 shows what kind of guy he is and what kind of player he is. It’s a pleasure to play with him and to be his friend.”
Watch: Gio Reyna on how Bellingham can improve
Goals, ball-winning ability, maturity and leadership: as a box-to-box midfielder, Bellingham really can do it all.
You can add fearlessness to that list, too, with the youngster relishing the prospect of taking on former teammate Erling Haaland and Manchester City in the Champions League on Tuesday: “I’m buzzing for it. I can’t wait.”
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