This piece was supposed to be about Bellingham’s positioning, but Real Madrid’s inability to replace Benzema also came to the fore
With a greater license to advance thanks to Real’s choice of three from Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Eduardo Camavinga, Aurelien Tchouameni and Federico Valverde behind him, Bellingham’s role is more false nine given Rodrygo and Vinicius’ tendency to move out wide.
Hence the poacher-like goals Bellingham has scored this season, including four around the six-yard area, and a start that inspired Gareth Southgate to give the 20-year-old a similar role for England, further up from defensive-midfield duo Kalvin Phillips and Declan Rice. It worked, and led to a cut-above-the-rest display against Scotland where he scored, assisted and looked just technically better than anybody else on that Hampden pitch.
Back to Wednesday night and the most notable omission on the teamsheet may have been Vinicius – midweek through a six-week absence after a hamstring tear – but in truth it was Benzema, the man who departed for Al-Ittihad in the summer. Joselu, of former Newcastle United striker fame arrived on loan, started against Union Berlin, and was evidently the focal point in the first half.
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