Jude Bellingham made his eagerly anticipated Real Madrid debut on Saturday evening in their La Liga opener clash against Athletic Bilbao. Much is expected of the Englishman, who made the £88.5m move from Borussia Dortmund to Real Madrid in the summer.
He was named in Los Blancos' starting lineup in their opening game of the 2023/24 season and he showed why he was so highly sought after this summer with an outstanding display.
Rodrygo gave Real Madrid the lead in the 28th minute. The Brazilian forward picked up possession inside Bilbao's box and his fierce right-foot effort fizzed beyond Unai Simon and into the back of the net.
Bellingham marked his first competitive Real Madrid appearance with a goal eight minutes later as he doubled his side's tally. David Alaba's deep corner found its way to an unmarked Bellingham and the youngster's first-time effort bounced off the turf and into the top corner.
Bellingham was not shy to celebrate his goal in front of the Athletic Bilbao fans as he looked at them and outstretched his arms. Watch his goal and celebration below...
VIDEO: Jude Bellingham scores on his Real Madrid debut vs Athletic Bilbao
The celebration was not well received by the Athletic Bilbao fans behind the goal. They responded with whistles as they made their feelings known.
While Iker Muniain was also not impressed. The Spanish winger was seen having words with Bellingham shortly afterwards.
Jude Bellingham's mazy run in Athletic Bilbao vs Real Madrid
Bellingham nearly produced a quite incredible assist in the second half at San Mamés. The 20-year-old picked up the ball well inside his own half and had two opposition players closing him down. But Bellingham did not panic and easily went past them both.
The Englishman continued to drive forward and beat another Bilbao player before laying the ball off to Vinicius Jr. Bellingham got the ball back inside the box but his pull back intended for Rodrygo was cut out by a Bilbao player and they managed to clear the danger. Despite not ending in a goal, it was still a superb piece of play by Bellingham and you can view it below...
Real Madrid went on to cruise to a 2-0 victory. Bellingham played the full 90 minutes and was given the Man-of-the-Match award for his all-action display.
Jude Bellingham's impressive statistics on his Real Madrid debut
Bellingham's statistics from his first game for Real Madrid have been compiled by SofaScore and they make for very impressive reading. In addition to his goal, he completed 40 of his 48 passes, played a key pass and was successful in three of his four dribble attempts. He also won 13 of his 15 ground duels, recorded two interceptions and made four tackles.
What next for Jude Bellingham and Real Madrid?
It's very, very early days but, at the time of writing, Real Madrid are top of the La Liga table. It was a dream debut for Bellingham and he will be looking to keep the momentum going in Los Blancos' next match against Almeria on Saturday 19th August.