Against De Bruyne, Bellingham shows why he has the world at his feet

The pair are separated by 12 years, at 20 and 32 years of age respectively, but the importance they have to their teams cannot be underplayed.

FITS LIKE A GLOVE: Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham during the UEFA Champions League quarter-final. Pic: Martin Rickett, PA Wire.

Amid the sound and fury of another enthralling Champions League game at the Etihad, this was also the perfect chance to assess the merits of Jude Bellingham, Europe’s most exciting young player, against those of Kevin De Bruyne, the Premier League’s finest midfielder of recent years.

They are separated by 12 years, at 20 and 32 years of age respectively, but the importance they have to their teams cannot be underplayed.

We all know about De Bruyne of course, the man who has made Manchester City tick for the best part of a decade. But if, at any time in the past 70-odd years of this competition, you’d have suggested that Real Madrid’s best player, technically and tactically, was an Englishman, you would have been laughed out of town.

So it is scarcely credible that Bellingham, the boy from Birmingham who has yet to reach his 21st birthday, strides like a colossus across the pitch, the most influential Madridista already in his first season at the club, reminiscent of Zinedine Zidane in the way he moves and dictates play. He also wears the famous number five shirt.

And just like Zizou, Bellingham has a delicate touch that belies his size. He demonstrated it to devastating effect when Rodrygo scored the 12th minute goal that stunned City’s supporters.

Dani Carvajal’s hopeful punt down the middle needed expert control and Bellingham did not disappoint, taking the dropping ball down with an exquisite touch, turning in an instant and setting Federico Valverde away.

When the ball reached Vinicius Junior in space on the right, a goal was on the cards, and Rodrygo eventually put the ball away.

For an hour, Bellingham ran the show from the centre of the pitch as majestically as Luka Modric used to do.

Despite their shootout win, this is not a great Real Madrid side. But with Bellingham at its heart, and the two young Brazilians up front about to be joined by Kylian Mbappe next summer, there is every chance they will return to the summit of European football.

This meeting with the reigning champions was the game everyone wanted to see, the final in all but name.

Last week’s 3-3 draw in Madrid had set it up perfectly. Some of the most exciting names in world football went toe to toe, with little to separate them, and more was on the cards.

The atmosphere began building when the Spanish club arrived on Tuesday afternoon, with Bellingham hinting he turned down City in order to join Madrid.

He was certainly the talk of the town, as Spanish fans started to gather in Manchester city centre on Wednesday afternoon, gathering incongruously in a local Wetherspoons as they sheltered from intermittent showers, a stark contrast from the way English fans soak up the sun in Madrid’s Plaza Mayor whenever they visit the city.

The banter was friendly, anticipation high.

City’s supporters were quietly confident, having seen their side send Ancelotti’s men packing with a 4-0 victory at the Etihad in last season’s semi-final.

De Bruyne had been imperious that night, but it took him longer to exert his influence this time. For the opening half-hour or so, while Bellingham was stealing the show, De Bruyne was quiet, except for a couple of corners he’d swung in under the crossbar hoping to catch Andriy Lunin napping.

He got stronger as the game went on and his 76th minute equaliser showed sharpness of mind and body as he seized on a rare mistake from Antonio Rudiger, who had once again marked Erling Haaland out of the game.

De Bruyne had a chance to put City ahead soon afterwards but uncharacteristically snatched at his sbot and blazed over. Yet still he kept providing bullets for Haaland, only to see the Norwegian firing blanks. Haaland was hooked before 90 minutes was up, a tiring De Bruyne in extra time.

But with the exuberance of youth Bellingham played the full two hours, albeit in a more advanced postion and also looking leggy towards the end.

But this young man already looks to have the talent and staying power to be one of the best in the world for years to come.