The Bernabeu has witnessed the best of Jude Bellingham once again.
The English midfielder was Real Madrid’s standout performer in their 4-0 win against Malaga on Sunday, opening the scoring in the 19th minute with a stunning goal that was pure theatre from start to finish.
First he picked up a loose ball in midfield, bursting forward to collect possession after a team-mate was tackled. He surged past one opponent, leaving him sprawled on the turf. Then, running diagonally across the box, he moved beyond two more hesitant defenders, who appeared afraid to attempt a challenge.
Then came the finish, sliding the ball between goalkeeper Alfonso Herrero’s legs from a tight angle and into the far corner. He was unstoppable.
Jude Bellingham is in some serious form 🔥 The midfielder runs past three defenders before finishing brilliantly 👏 pic.twitter.com/NOoKfobNCi — Premier Sports (@PremSportsTV) August 30, 2026
And for U.S. viewers:
Jude Bellingham marcó un golazo para abrir el marcador en el Bernabéu 🤩⚽️. pic.twitter.com/anszCVln61 — ESPN Deportes (@ESPNDeportes) August 30, 2026
“Hey Jude!” rang around the Bernabeu, a chant that had become a familiar soundtrack to his debut year at the club, 2023-24.
Real Madrid is bringing back those 2023 vibes with “Hey Jude” @TheAthleticFC pic.twitter.com/Tos9dk1F09 — Guillermo Rai (@GuillermoRai_) August 30, 2026
It was heard far less last season, though, as a series of shoulder and thigh injuries kept him out for a combined 100 days.
“Bellingham is not only a top player, but also a leader,” Madrid manager Jose Mourinho said at his post-match press conference. “He’s very demanding of himself, and demanding of his team-mates. I really like that about him.
“He is in the Ballon d’Or race. What he does as a midfielder is absolutely incredible.”
Mourinho’s return to Madrid this summer for a second spell in charge has brought the Englishman back into the spotlight and, in the process, changed the face of the team. But how much has really changed? And what does it mean for Bellingham?
Over the off-season, there was a clamour for Madrid to strengthen in midfield. They brought in Bernardo Silva as a free agent after his departure from Manchester City and also tried to sign his long-time team-mate Rodri, who ultimately joined Barcelona. But there were also voices inside the club arguing that Bellingham should remain the team’s leader in that area of the pitch.
Thankfully, Mourinho agreed.
The new manager’s system, a 4-2-3-1, still demands defensive work of the England international. But there is less of it than might have been expected within a different structure, and Bellingham is certainly not being asked to play as an orthodox defensive midfielder as he often was under Xabi Alonso in the first half of last season. Instead, he has more freedom to use his quality closer to the opponents’ box, much as he did at the recent World Cup with England, where he scored seven goals in eight appearances.
He had only been back in training for a week following his post-tournament break, so was not yet 100 per cent physically when he played 80 minutes against Espanyol last weekend. Nevertheless, he scored his first goal of the season in a 2-1 away win, but his greatest contribution was in linking the game between Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior, who were leading the Madrid attack.
In the 4-1 home win against Real Sociedad in midweek, he was again central to Madrid’s game, covering ground relentlessly and winning the ball inside the opposition box before presenting Vinicius Jr with a goal.
But his best performance of the season so far surely came today, when he finally looked physically back to his best.
“He’s a unique player, super-important for the team,” Mourinho said before the game, when asked whether Bellingham was the glue holding the side together.
Once again, the 23-year-old was the link between Madrid’s different parts, knitting the collective together.
As early as the third minute, he slipped a pass through to Mbappe, beginning to expose the first cracks in Malaga’s defence. And, as the visitors increasingly retreated under Madrid’s pressure, Bellingham started to make his presence felt in the final third, bursting forward from the second line.
That was how his goal came about: a brilliant slalom through the defence, followed by a composed finish. And that was how he helped create Madrid’s second, too. He arrived unexpectedly in the box on the half-hour mark to meet a cross with a header. It ultimately went down as an own goal by Herrero rather than being added to Bellingham’s tally, but his intervention had forced it.
After the break, he continued to dictate the game, accelerating whenever Madrid needed to up the tempo and almost scoring again with a left-footed strike that came back off the post.
Even in transition, he was proving difficult to contain. In the 65th minute, striker Chupe had no choice but to stop him with a clear and obvious foul, earning a yellow card in the process. It was the only way Malaga could prevent him rampaging forward.
Madrid eased off in the closing stages and began to leave more space behind, but Bellingham remained important there, too, blocking a goal-bound shot. He was also visibly furious with his defensive team-mates after a positioning error during a Malaga counter-attack.
His numbers told part of the story: two successful tackles and five recoveries. But his passing was arguably even more revealing. He completed 36 of 38 (94.7 per cent), with 28 of those coming in the opposition half, before he was substituted with three minutes of the 90 to play.
By then, the Bernabeu crowd had seen enough. When he was replaced with Arda Guler, the Madrid supporters rose to their feet and gave him a standing ovation.
Jude Bellingham gets a standing ovation. What a display! https://t.co/JvTfnkHry2 pic.twitter.com/95FeAW6cnZ — Guillermo Rai (@GuillermoRai_) August 30, 2026
“I feel more free right now,” Bellingham told club media after the game. “I have more freedom to move, to go up and down the pitch, depending on what we need. I’m having a lot of fun, I’m really enjoying my football, and that’s why I’m performing well.”
After three games of the season, Bellingham has two goals and two assists. More importantly, he looks like a player rejuvenated at club level, with his freedom restored.
Mourinho sounds like he has no interest in seeing the midfielder revert to his 2025-26 role.
“Bellingham sometimes defended like a second left-back last season,” he said post-match. “I told him I do not want to see that anymore. I made a deal with him.”