Bellingham matches Ronaldo''s start at Real Madrid with 10 goals in first 10 games
Barcelona (AP): Jude Bellingham equaled the fantastic scoring numbers at Real Madrid of Cristiano Ronaldo's start with the club on Saturday, showing again that Real Madrid got much more than a promising midfielder when they signed him this summer.
The England international took his tally to 10 in as many games after netting twice to help Madrid rout Osasuna 4-0 and keep the Spanish league lead. That was the best scoring start for a new Madrid player since Ronaldo also scored 10 in his first 10 games after his 2009 transfer from Manchester United.
"I'm a confident guy, but I didn't expect such a good start," Bellingham said. "At this stage of the season you can't ask for more."
Not only has the 20-year-old Bellingham started filling the big boots of an aging Luka Modric, he is also helping Madrid to quickly move past the exit of Karim Benzema amid a still unsuccessful pursuit of Kylian Mbapp .
"He puts on his Superman cape in nearly every game," veteran defender Dani Carvajal, who set up Bellingham's opener, said about his new teammate.
Bellingham sent a message that he was ready to handle high expectations when he accepted the No. 5 of Zinedine Zidane at Madrid. But nobody expected him to score at this rate, not even his coach. And this was for a team that was supposed to struggle after Benzema, its top scorer for the past four seasons, left for Saudi Arabia.
Bellingham leads the league with eight goals and has scored in six of eight league games. He has also scored in both of Madrid's Champions League games, including a 3-2 win at Napoli this week.
"His start to the season has been a surprise in every aspect. Nobody expected him to score like this," Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said.
His sudden transformation into a serial goal-scorer since joining Madrid from Borussia Dortmund, where he scored 14 times in 42 games last season, has quickly elevated Bellingham to the role of team leader.
He has proven nearly unstoppable for defenders to keep track of when he makes his runs forward from the midfield. His first goal on Saturday in the ninth minute was a product of one of those runs, when Carvajal saw him coming and used one touch to knock a pass by Modric into the path of the charging Bellingham.
Bellingham used one touch to cut further into the heart of the box and fired over goalkeeper Sergio Herrera.
He struck again in the 54th when he worked a quick one-two with Federico Valverde while surrounded by defenders in the area.
It was his second brace for Madrid after also scoring two in a 3-1 win at Almeria.
Vin cius J nior added a third goal on the break in the 65th and five minutes later set up Joselu Mato for Madrid's fourth to crush Osasuna in a rematch of last year's Copa del Rey final.
"(Bellingham is) incredible. He was born to play for Madrid and to define an era," Vin cius said.
"I hope this connection that we have lasts for the many years that we can play together. I love playing with Jude."
Madrid remained two points ahead of Girona, which won at Cadiz 1-0. Barcelona is four points behind Madrid before the defending champion visits Granada on Sunday.
Aur lien Tchouam ni, a holding midfielder, had to play as a central defender for Madrid with der Milit o and David Alaba injured and Nacho Fern ndez suspended. That left Antonio R diger as the only central defender available, but Osasuna was unable to take advantage of Tchouam ni's lack of experience.
The only relief in an otherwise painful game for 10th-place Osasuna was Herrera's save of a penalty kick by Joselu to deny Madrid a fifth goal.
Osasuna coach Jagoba Arrasate also praised Bellingham.
"(Bellingham) is a super complete player. He plays well, scores, gives assists. He is still young and will only get better," said Arrasate, who watched the game from the stands while serving a suspension.
GARC A GOAL FOR GIRONA
Aleix Garc a's goal in the 59th minute gave Girona the win against a Cadiz team that played for 80 minutes down a man.
Darwin Machis saw a direct red card in the 10th minute for a foul on Yangel Herrera.
Cadiz is 12th after losing its first home game of the season.
Girona, a team from northeast Catalonia partly owned by Manchester City's Abu Dhabi ownership, entered the previous round as leader after winning six games in a row before it lost to Madrid 3-0 last weekend.
SEVILLA SALVAGES POINT
Youssef En-Nesyri headed in a stoppage-time goal to complete a fightback by Sevilla in a 2-2 draw at home with Rayo Vallecano, which led 2-0 at halftime.
Valencia also drew 1-1 at Mallorca.
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'Made in India' must become symbol of excellence, global competitiveness: PM
New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday called upon states to encourage manufacturing, boost 'ease of doing business' and strengthen the services sector to make India a global services giant.
Addressing the 5th National Conference of Chief Secretaries here, Modi emphasised the need for quality in governance, service delivery and manufacturing, and said the label 'Made in India' must become a symbol of excellence and global competitiveness.
He said India has the potential to become the world's food basket and the country must move towards high-value agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries to become a major food exporter.
"Called upon states to encourage manufacturing, boost 'Ease of Doing Business' and strengthen the services sector. Let us aim to make India a Global Services Giant," Modi said in a series of posts on X.
The theme of the three-day conference, which began on December 26, was 'Human Capital for Viksit Bharat'.
Modi observed that this conference marks another decisive step in strengthening the spirit of cooperative federalism and deepening Centre-State partnership to achieve the vision of a 'Viksit Bharat'.
Highlighting India's demographic advantage, he said nearly 70 per cent of the population is in the working-age group, creating a unique historical opportunity which, when combined with economic progress, can significantly accelerate the journey towards a 'Viksit Bharat', according to an official statement.
Modi said India has boarded the "Reform Express", driven primarily by the strength of its young population, and empowering this demographic remains the government's key priority.
He noted that the conference is being held at a time when the country is witnessing next-generation reforms and steadily moving towards becoming a major global economic power.
Underlining the need to strengthen 'atmanirbharta' (self-reliance), he said India must pursue self-reliance with zero defect in products and minimal environmental impact, making the label 'Made in India' synonymous with quality and strengthening the commitment to "zero effect, zero defect".
The PM urged the Centre and states to jointly identify 100 products for domestic manufacturing to reduce import dependence and strengthen economic resilience in line with the vision of 'Viksit Bharat'.
In higher education, too, he said, there is a need for academia and industry to work together to create high-quality talent.
He highlighted that India has a rich heritage and history with the potential to be among the top global tourist destinations.
Modi urged the states to prepare a roadmap for creating at least one global-level tourist destination and nourishing an entire tourist ecosystem.
He said it is important to align the national sports calendar with the global sports calendar.
"India is working to host the 2036 Olympics. India needs to prepare infrastructure and sports ecosystem at par with global standards," he said.
The prime minister said the next 10 years must be invested in the states, only then will India get the desired results in such sports events.
Every state must give this top priority and create infrastructure to attract global companies, he said.
In the services sector, Modi said, there should be greater emphasis on other areas like healthcare, education, transport, tourism, professional services and artificial intelligence, etc. to make India a global services giant.
He said India will soon be launching the National Manufacturing Mission (NMM).
States should work in tandem with the discussions and decisions emerging from the conferences of both chief secretaries and DGPs to strengthen governance and implementation.
The PM said similar conferences could be replicated at the departmental level to promote a national perspective among officers and improve governance outcomes in pursuit of a 'Viksit Bharat'.
In conclusion, he said every state must create a 10-year actionable plan based on the discussions of this conference with one, two, five and 10-year target timelines wherein technology can be utilised for regular monitoring.
The conference featured a series of special sessions that enabled focused deliberations on cross-cutting and emerging priorities.
It marks another important milestone in strengthening the Centre-State partnership through structured and sustained dialogue on national development priorities, according to the statement.
The PM's principal secretaries P K Mishra and Shaktikanta Das, Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan, members of the NITI Aayog, chief secretaries of all states and Union territories, and domain experts attended the meeting.
Anchored in the prime minister's vision of cooperative federalism, this conference serves as the forum where the Centre and states collaborate, designing a unified roadmap to maximise India's human capital potential and accelerate inclusive, future-ready growth.
It has been organised annually over the past four years.
The first conference was held in Dharamshala in June 2022, followed by subsequent conferences in New Delhi in January 2023, December 2023 and December 2024.
