Carlo Ancelotti explains why Jude Bellingham goal drought is 'not a problem' for Real Madrid despite La Liga champions not yet being at '100 per cent' as he makes key Kylian Mbappe point

Bellingham has yet to find the back of the net in the 2024-25 campaign, seemingly losing his golden touch in the final third after scoring 23 times across all competitions in his maiden season with Real Madrid. However, Ancelotti seemed unfazed by his star player's goal drought as he pointed out the England international's real role in the team.

Speaking to reporters, the Italian coach said: "We're satisfied with his work, I'm very satisfied. He works a lot, he's always present, he competes, he fights, he sacrifices himself. It's true he hasn't scored the goals he scored last year, but the surprise isn't this year, the surprise was last year, when he scored lots of goals which nobody expected and helped us a lot. The problem this year isn't that we're lacking Bellingham's goals.

"We've always scored goals, and we'll always score, because we have talented players up front. For us, in this moment, the work he's doing is more important than the goals the scored last year."

Ancelotti also jumped to the defence of Mbappe when asked about the French forward's lack of involvement in general play. Mbappe has scored eight goals in his first 12 appearances for Real, but has come in for criticism for his performances.

"[I ask him] to score goals. I prefer him to score goals rather than pressing," Ancelotti said. "The centre forward role hasn't changed for us, I ask the same of Mbappé that I asked Karim [Benzema], to be ready when we win the ball, and try to make a fast transition."

The Real boss added on his team's current standing: "We aren't 100%, obviously. We've got good results, but we have to improve in terms of our play, and little by little, we will... We have to defend better, as we did last year. Right now the team is less solid, and we're working on that."

Reigning La Liga champions Real will be back in action on Tuesday as they take on Borussia Dortmund in a Champions League encounter at Santiago Bernabeu, with Mbappe and Bellingham both in line for starting roles once again.