Real Madrid hero Díaz pays tribute to injured Bellingham،
Brahim Díaz praised his “world class” teammate Jude Bellingham after scoring in Real Madrid's 1-0 Champions League last-16 first leg win over RB Leipzig on Tuesday and imitated the famous arm-to-arm goal celebration strained by the injured midfielder.
Díaz put Madrid ahead in the 48th minute with a superb individual effort, running at the Leipzig defense before shooting at goalkeeper Péter Gulácsi, leading Bellingham to post “Oh my god Brahim!” on social networks.
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The Spanish winger paid tribute to Bellingham – who is expected to be out for three weeks with a sprained ankle suffered in Madrid's 4-0 win over Girona on Saturday – by celebrating his goal and then addressing to the media after the match.
“I like [Bellingham]”, Díaz told Movistar. “From the first moment we get along very well. I help him with his Spanish. He's a world-class player, I love playing with him. Beyond his charisma, he is a great person.
“Despite the absences of Jude, who we missed, and of [Antonio] Rudiger, and all those [players] who have been injured for a long time, we continue to show that we are a great team, that we are Real Madrid.”
Díaz started the season struggling to break into the Madrid team after signing from AC Milan, but he has gone from strength to strength and has now scored eight goals in all competitions.
“I got the ball, I started running and I saw that they were afraid to jump in, they were running back and I put it in the net,” Díaz said. “I'm intuitive, I wanted to give it to Vinícius [Júnior] but in the end I got the hang of it. It was a nice goal.”
“After two years at Milan, he looks stronger, with more character,” said coach Carlo Ancelotti, when asked about Díaz. “He started the season without playing much, but when he got an opportunity he always contributed. Today he scored a spectacular goal.”
“What was I thinking [before the goal]?” added Ancelotti. “Don't lose the ball! And he didn’t!”
La Liga leaders Madrid will now face Rayo Vallecano, Sevilla and Valencia in the league before the second leg against Leipzig at the Santiago Bernabeu on March 6.
