Bellingham injury dampens Real joy after huge Girona win

Jude Bellingham's ankle injury cast a shadow over Real Madrid's 4-0 thrashing of Girona at the Bernabeu.

Carlo Ancelotti's side flexed their muscles on home soil to move five points clear at the top of the LaLiga table and 11 ahead of fierce rivals Barcelona.

Vinicius Junior opened the scoring after just six minutes with a right-footed stunner before Bellingham, in another impressive individual display, took his league goal tally for the season to 16 with strikes either side of half-time.

However, the 20-year-old England star had to leave the field of play prior to Rodrygo Goes' 61st-minute strike after suffering an injury to his left ankle in a tussle with Girona attacker Pablo Torre.

Bellingham was treated by medical staff following the clash and was able to continue playing for a short while, even tapping in his second goal of the game before sitting down on the turf and requesting to be replaced by Brahim Diaz.

Italian boss Ancelotti confirmed the ex-Birmingham ace suffered an ankle sprain and that he will be assessed tomorrow.

If examinations prove the injury is more serious than first thought, it would be a huge blow to Real ahead of a crucial period in their season.

Los Blancos travel to RB Leipzig next Tuesday for the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie before a tricky LaLiga trip to Rayo Vallecano on the weekend.

Bellingham has missed only five games in all competitions this season following his £88.5million move from Borussia Dortmund last summer and those associated with Real will hope that number is not increased by much — if at all.