Bundesliga News

Europe: Champions League
FT
1 - 2
(0 - 2)
Beşiktaş
Dortmund
F. Montero (90)
J. Bellingham (20), E. Haaland (45)

Haaland heaps praise on Bellingham after win: "He's incredible."

By Peter Weis   @PeterVicey

Young English phenom Jude Bellingham was unquestionably the man-of-the-evening in Istanbul on Wednesday night. 

The 18-year-old who scored the opening goal and set-up the second earned deserved praise from a teammate that, when compared with the teenage sensation, looks like a veteran. 
Jude Bellingham.
Jude Bellingham.
Birmingham's Jude Bellingham set another record on Wednesday night. Having scored in the second-leg elimination match against Manchester city in the 2020/21 UEFA Champions' League tournament, Bellingham opened up his 2021/22 with a 20th minute tally.




At the age of 18 years and 78 days, this makes Bellingham the youngest player ever to score in two consecutive UCL fixtures; even younger than Kylian Mbappé when the French phenom accomplished the feat.

"He's three years younger than me," Erling Haaland mused into the post-match mic, "That's crazy! He's incredible!"

Head-coach Marco Rose, just like predecessor Lucien Favre, could only gush. The BVB trainer simply labelled Bellingham a "cool lad".

Bellingham's performance under pressure wasn't merely "cool". In front of a raucous crowd of 22,000 fans at Istabul's Vodaphone Arena, the highly-focused technical work put into both his opening goal and the assist on Haaland's shortly before the end of the half could be described as "ice-veined."

None of the pressures associated with the atmosphere fazed the youngster. He alluded to the importance of tuning out distractions in his own post-match interview.

"We were simply more ruthless," he noted.


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