Mourinho heaps praise on Bellingham after Madrid's emphatic win

Jude Bellingham set Real Madrid on course for a 4-0 win over Malaga with a solo goal, prompting Jose Mourinho to describe the England midfielder as an exceptional player.

Bellingham opened the scoring in the 19th minute at Santiago Bernabeu. He collected the ball around 30 meters from goal, moved past three Malaga defenders and beat goalkeeper Alfonso Herrero with his shot. Seven minutes later, he again contributed to Madrid's second goal, after Herrero parried a powerful effort and the ball crossed the line for an own goal.

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He is an amazing player. He demands a lot of himself and also demands a lot of others.

Kylian Mbappe extended the lead before the half-hour mark with a volley into the bottom-left corner after a cross from Trent Alexander-Arnold. Mbappe had scored a hat-trick in the previous match against Real Sociedad. Arda Guler completed the victory in stoppage time after a quick counterattack involving Vinicius Junior.

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I don't want to see him defending almost like a second left-back.

Madrid had 56.7% possession and recorded 19 shots, compared with Malaga's 14. The victory marked Mourinho's third in a row since returning to the club, leaving Real Madrid with nine points from three matches at the top of La Liga.

Mourinho also said Bellingham should not be required to defend so deeply. "I don't want to see him defending almost like a second left-back," he said. He rejected concerns about the compatibility of Madrid's star players, saying, "Very, very good players always want to play together, because they have the same speed of thought, the same quality, and they must always be compatible."

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Very, very good players always want to play together, because they have the same speed of thought, the same quality, and they must always be compatible.