Jude Bellingham takes girlfriend Ashlyn Castro on Valentine's Day date to Real Madrid as injured star drags model WAG to the Bernabeu

Bellingham wasn't going to miss seeing Los Blancos ease to a resounding home victory, a result that extended Real Madrid's winning league run to eight matches. Gonzalo Garcia fired the Madrid giants ahead with just five minutes on the clock, but Real Sociedad were level in the 21st minute as Mikel Oyarzabal tucked past Thibaut Courtois from the spot.

La Real were level for just four minutes as Vinicius Junior fired Alvaro Arbeloa's side back in front midway through the first half. Federico Valverde doubled Real Madrid's advantage on the half hour mark before Vinicius Junior bagged his second and Real Madrid's fourth shortly after the restart.

The win not only meant that Real Madrid leapfrogged rivals Barcelona ahead of their game against Girona on Monday night but saw the pair make a rare public appearance together.

Bellingham and Castro have largely kept their relationship under wraps since going public in January. American model Castro, who turned 28 December, and Bellingham first met after exchanging messages on Instagram.

Bellingham is in a race against time to be fit for England's pre-World Cup friendlies against Uruguay and Japan next month as the 22-year-old looks to prove his fitness ahead of the summer showpiece in North America.

The midfielder was only expected to miss out four weeks with the hamstring problem, but scans revealed the severity of the problem, meaning he'll be out for six to eight weeks. England boss Thomas Tuchel, who recently signed a new deal through to Euro 2028, was asked about Bellingham' fitness following the Three Lions' UEFA Nations League draw last week.

"The club is a bit more defensive on the outlook regarding the weeks of his recovery," the England boss began. "Jude is pushing, and as we know him, he is determined and super professional. He will try everything to be with us in March. Of course we are in contact, that is a normal thing to do, and we wish him all the best. Whatever we can do for him, we will help and support him. It is a little race against time."

And when asked whether Bellingham would be fit for next month's games, Tuchel said: "Personally, I am optimistic, but I am not sure."

Bellingham has established himself as a key man for both club and country having broken onto the scene in 2019. The midfielder then moved to Borussia Dortmund in 2020 and then on to Real Madrid in 2023, during which he has scored 44 goals in 128 appearances.

However, Bellingham has been restricted to just 15 league starts this season having undergone shoulder surgery after the Club World Cup. That meant the youngster didn't make his first league start of the season until a 5-2 Madrid derby defeat to rivals Atletico at the end of September.

Bellingham will miss a crunch set of games for Real Madrid ahead of next month's international break. Indeed, the Spanish side renew rivalries with Benfica in their Champions League first leg playoff meeting with Benfica on Tuesday night.

Benfica goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin famously scored a 98th minute header in a 4-2 win over Real Madrid in the dying embers of the Champions League league phase last month, a goal that saw the Liga Portugal side move into the playoff spots at Marseille's expense, and saw Los Blancos fail to finish in the top eight.

Arbeloa's side then travel to Osasuna next weekend before their second leg meeting with Benfica to see out February. Real Madrid are then scheduled to play Getafe, Celta Vigo, Elche and Atletico Madrid in March ahead of the next international break.

However, Real Madrid will also have two round-of-16 Champions League ties to play should they beat Benfica, where they'll play either Sporting CP or Manchester City should they progress.