Jude Bellingham goes level with Lionel Messi in the Champions League

Real Madrid continued their high-scoring run of recent form with a 5-1 demolition of RB Leipzig in the Champions League on Wednesday. Madrid have now scored 27 goals in their last six games, although that run did include a chastening 5-2 loss to Barcelona in the Supercopa final.

Rodrygo, Kylian Mbappé and Vinicius Junior were all amongst the goals against Leipzig but there was also a nice milestone for Jude Bellingham, who provide a nonchalant back-heeled pass to set up Rodrygo’s second.

That assist was Bellingham’s 13th in the Champions League and he’s provided a further 11 goals. Those 24 goal involvements put him level with Lionel Messi at the age of 21, by which point the Argentine had 17 goals and seven assists.

Bellingham is now joint-third on the list and doesn’t turn 22 until June so he has plenty of time to improve on his current tally. He could well catch Manchester City striker Erling Haaland who had managed 26 UCL goal involvements at the age of 21. But he’s got a long way to go to overtake the current leader.

Real Madrid teammate Kylian Mbappé holds the Champions League record for most goal involvements at the age of 21 and he’s a long way ahead. During his early career with Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain Mbappé recorded an incredible 37 goal contributions.

After a mixed start to life in Spain Mbappé has caught fire in recent weeks with five goals in Madrid’s last four games. The Frenchman is linking well with the likes of Bellingham, Vinicius and Rodrygo and Real Madrid look well-placed to compete for the Champions League once again.

“His adaptation period is over,“ head coach Carlo Ancelotti said of Mbappé recently. ”He is already showing how good he is, although he can still improve. He has recovered from his last injury and to me, he seems him more motivated now, he’s more excited."

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