It would be nice to believe that Jude Bellingham can do it all, every week. It would be pretty cool to think that his signature celebration — arms spread, chin raised, a slight smirk — will happen up every few days. After all, this is a 20-year-old waltzing into the highest-pressure club in the world, and making everything look very easy.
But the reality is that Bellingham will slow down. There will, at some point, be games where he doesn't score or assist. He might even — and this is a terrifying concept to grasp for Madrid fans — have a poor showing, or fall victim to the tactical smarts of an opposing manager.
So if Bellingham falters, then who else can pick up the slack? The luxury for Real Madrid for many years now has been their wealth of attacking talent. Cristiano Ronaldo could afford to have a bad day because Gareth Bale was in the team. Karim Benzema could miss a few games, and Vinicius Jr would pick up the slack. Ronaldo Nazario could struggle and still have Raul for back-up.
But so far this season, those secondary performers are yet to appear. The loss of goalscoring production with the departure of Benzema to the Saudi Pro League has been made up for by Bellingham's brilliance. If he fails, though, it is down to a cast of others to chip in. So far, those expected to fill in haven't delivered. Notably, the Brazilian duo of Vinicius and Rodrygo have combined for just four goals in all competitions so far — and haven't exactly been electric on international duty, either.
This isn't cause for immense concern — not yet, at least. Still, Los Blancos could do with getting their Brazilian duo firing, as Bellingham can't do everything alone.
