Brits Abroad: Bellingham shines in Real Madrid's title-boosting win over Girona
It's time for another look at Brits Abroad we we round up the performances of British players across the continent. Jude Bellingham starred for Real Madrid as they eased past Girona to move five points clear at the top of the table. Their 4-0 win came at a cost, however, with Bellingham now sidelined for a couple of weeks owing to an ankle issue.
Elsewhere, Harry Kane and Eric Dier featured in Bayern Munich's 3-0 loss to Bayer Leverkusen, which impacts their title chances, while Jordan Henderson and Chuba Akpom were forced to settle for defeat in Ajax's 3-2 loss at Heerenveen. Additionally, Lewis Ferguson, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Jonjo Shelvey all put in solid displays for their respective teams.
Real Madrid's 4-0 win over Girona on Saturday night came at a cost with Jude Bellingham sidelined for the next couple of weeks owing to a sprained ankle sustained shortly after the break at the Bernabeu. Prior to his withdrawal, Bellingham was superb, netting twice from four shots, and finding a teammate with 94.1% with 34 attempted passes to help return a WhoScored rating of 8.75.
After a fairly solid debut performance against league leaders Ajax, Jordan Henderson was on the losing side on his second appearance for the Dutch giants. The 33-year-old did all he could to help Ajax to all the spoils having made three tackles and one interception at Heerenveen, while the experienced midfielder was unfortunate not to add an assist having made two key passes.
Chuba Akpom has struggled for regular minutes following his summer move to Ajax but he gave a timely reminder of his goalscoring ability off the bench at Heerenveen. Indeed, Akpom netted his sixth league goal of the campaign having replaced Carlos Forbs for the second half. The 28-year-old managed two shots in total and earned a WhoScored rating of 7.12 for his efforts.
Bayern Munich fell five points behind league leaders Bayer Leverkusen after their 3-0 loss to Xabi Alonso's side in Saturday's blockbuster clash at the Bay Arena. Harry Kane put in his worst rated performance of the campaign in the defeat, returning a WhoScored rating of just 6.02 as the England captain managed just one shot and failed to make a key pass.
As Bayer Leverkusen sacrificed possession in order to hit Bayern on the counter, Eric Dier was able to pick out a teammate with relative ease having returned a pass success rate of 87.9% from his 116 passes. Dier also won eight aerial duels but he was unable to help Bayern to all the spoils in an evening to forget for the defending Bundesliga champions.
Jamie Bynoe-Gittens - Borussia Dortmund
Borussia Dortmund extended their unbeaten run to seven games with a 3-0 win over Freiburg on Friday night. Jamie Bynoe-Gittens struggled in the victory, though, as he mustered just one shot and two successful dribbles before his withdrawal midway through the first half.
Jadon Sancho - Borussia Dortmund
Having missed the 0-0 draw with Heidenheim last week due to injury, Jadon Sancho made a late cameo in the routine win over Freiburg. Sancho didn't really have time to impact the match having come on in the 88th minute but his availability is a boost for Edin Terzic.
AC Milan claimed an impressive 1-0 win over defending Serie A champions Napoli with Ruben Loftus-Cheek putting in a solid display from midfield. The 28-year-old returned a WhoScored rating of 7.07 as he made two key passes, one successful dribble and one tackle in a solid display.
Sassuolo ended a three-game losing run with a hard-fought 1-1 draw with Torino, a stalemate in which Josh Doig earned a WhoScored rating of 6.30. It wasn't a memorable performance by any stretch for the Scottish full-back, who committed more fouls (3) than he made tackles, interceptions and clearances combined (2) and was booked for his efforts.
Having played a starring role in Bologna's 4-2 win over Sassuolo last week, Lewis Ferguson put in another solid showing in a 4-0 win over Lecce. Ferguson may have failed to directly contribute to a goal, but it wasn't for want of trying have had one shot and made one key pass. The 24-year-old also made four tackles in a fine showing.
Marcus Edwards came on with 15 minutes to play of Sporting CP's resounding 5-0 win over Braga and didn't have any impact on the result as he managed just one shot.
Rizespor fell to a 1-0 loss at Sivasspor on Sunday though again Jonjo Shelvey was solid in the middle of the park. The 31-year-old was far and away the most involved player for his side at the BG Group 4 Eylül Stadyumu, having had 105 touches and found a teammate with 89.5% of his 86 passes. In addition, Shelvey made 12 accurate long balls and four key passes to return a WhoScored rating if 6.99.
It was an evening to forget for Lille as they fell to a 3-1 loss at league leaders PSG on Saturday night. Angel Gomes failed to assert himself for Les Dogues as evidenced by a WhoScored rating of just 6.21. Two key passes was solid enough given the opposition, but the defeat marked his second worst performance of the campaign.
Ainsley Maitlaind-Niles - Lyon
That Lyon managed to turn their fortunes around at Montpellier without Ainsley Maitland-Niles on the pitch may be circumstantial but is also not a good look on the versatile operator. That being said, Maitland-Niles didn't necessarily disappoint during his time on the pitch as he made two tackles, two interceptions and one key pass to contribute towards a WhoScored rating of 6.45.
