Danny Murphy says one Manchester City upstaged Jude Bellingham during the recent 3-3 draw against Real Madrid.
The Manchester club came away from their first-leg tie against Carlo Ancelotti’s side in the quarter-finals of the Champions League with a draw at the Santiago Bernabeu to set up a crucial second-leg showdown at the Etihad Stadium next week.
After Tuesday’s thrilling game, one pundit claimed that Bellingham, who made his first Champions League appearance against City in a Real shirt, and his performance was eclipsed by the efforts of one particular player in Pep Guardiola’s side.
Murphy says Bellingham was overshadowed by Man City star
Speaking on talkSPORT, Murphy had this to say about what Phil Foden did against Real after initially speaking about Bellingham.
He said: “He’s just a wonderful footballer, he’s been given a gift in terms of his technical ability, seeing pictures, but he’s just a brilliant athlete to match.
“Normally, you’re one or the other and he’s both. He can play anywhere, he looks comfortable at that level.
“For a lad of his age to be as comfortable as he is at that level is very unusual. But actually, Foden stole his thunder a little bit with that wondergoal again in a big moment.
“A bit like in the Derby, it was a similar strike when they played United.”
As Murphy mentioned, Foden managed to find the back of the net in the second half with a top-corner finish from outside the box to put City back on level terms with Real at 2-2.
Jude Bellingham vs Phil Foden
In comparison to Bellingham, the City star had more touches than his fellow England teammate (61 vs 48), as well as having a higher percentage of accurate passes (93% vs 87%).
While Foden certainly grabbed the headlines with his performance and goal at the Bernabeu, taking the focus away from Bellingham in the process, the City star will have to make sure he delivers a similar sort of performance in next week’s second-leg clash and help secure his side’s place in the semi-finals.