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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
David McDonnell

Jude Bellingham left cursing his Etihad luck yet again but World Cup quality is clear

The last time Jude Bellingham played at the Etihad Stadium, he left feeling cheated.

This time, he left the pitch with no sense of recrimination or injustice.

Back in April 2021, in the Champions League quarter-finals, Bellingham scored a perfectly good goal for Borussia Dortmund, only to have it chalked off for a foul on Ederson.

Replays showed Bellingham was robbed, with City going to win 2-1 and sealing their place in the semi-finals with victory by the same scoreline in the second leg, in which Bellingham scored.

Bellingham has since cemented his status as one of Europe's most exciting young talents, with Liverpool and City among the teams keeping tabs on him.

It took 15 minutes for Bellingham to make his mark in the latest instalment with City, spraying a fine pass out wide to Raphael Guerreiro, the attack ultimately thwarted, with Ederson collecting Salih Ozcan's tame shot.

Bellingham showed his defensive qualities too, blocking a goal-bound effort just after the half-hour from Jack Grealish, after the City winger had cut inside.

His awareness of space, quality of passing in tight situations, reading of the game and ability to draw fouls were impressive, as Dortmund thwarted City for much of the game before the hosts' late comeback.

Jude Bellingham was excellent for Borussia Dortmund (Getty Images)

It was Bellingham's ball out wide to Salih Ozcan that sparked Dortmund's best chance, seven minutes after the restart, Marco Reus's angled shot going just wide.

And it was fitting it was Bellingham who put Dortmund ahead with a superbly-dispatched header in the 56th minute, darting behind City's static defence to give the visitors the lead, an advantage they held until John Stones and the inevitable Erling Haaland turned things around.

Still only 19, Bellingham is already an established member of Gareth Southgate's England squad and is in contention to start the opener at the World Cup against Iran, alongside Declan Rice, with Kalvin Phillips having been a hostage to injury in recent months.

This mature and commanding performance only served to underline his formidable talent and why Bellingham is so coveted by Europe's top clubs and so important to England's future.

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