Jude Bellingham wins Kopa Trophy at Ballon d'Or ceremony

Jude Bellingham is on cloud nine. After his two-goal haul in the Clasico, he was presented with the Kopa Trophy tonight at the Ballon d'Or Gala at the Théâtre du Chatelet in Paris. The England midfielder was recognised for his great season at Borussia Dortmund and his splendid start to life at Real Madrid.

Bellingham has 13 goals in 13 official games for Real Madrid and no one at the club remembers Karim Benzema any more. The player, despite being a midfielder, is the goal man for Ancelotti's side, who have been astonished by his extraordinary performance.

The former Borussia Dortmund player takes over from Gavi as the best Under-21 player in the world. In fact, the two had a beautiful duel in the last Clásico played at the Lluís Companys. The Azulgrana played a great game and held Bellingham at bay for most of the match.

The Madridista admitted that, despite his two goals, he had not put in a great performance. The duel between these two talents is set to become a classic of its own for years to come.

That the Kopa would go to Bellingham was almost a foregone conclusion, although he has had enormous competition from Gavi, who won La Liga with Barça and is also a regular in the Spanish national team, Musiala, Alejandro Balde and his team-mate Camavinga, to name but a few names. Pedri has been penalised by the many injuries he has had because in normal conditions he would have been able to compete for the award.

Bellingham will add the Kopa trophy to the Golden Boy award. The Real Madrid player has won the voting for the trophy and will succeed Barça's Pedri and Gavi, winners of the last two editions of the prestigious award presented by 'Tuttosport'. 

He will receive the award in Turin in early November as the best Under-21 player of the year. Bellingham has beaten other candidates such as Hojlund, Sesko, Musiala and Lamine Yamal to become the first Real Madrid player to win the trophy. 

Nod for Zidane

Bellingham took the opportunity to "thank everyone who has supported me. Thanks to the team, to the coaching staff, to everyone who has made it possible for me to be here today. The Real Madrid midfielder gave a nod to Zidane, whom he described "as one of my idols. That's why I chose number 5, although the truth is that there weren't many to choose from".