The England midfielder is yet to find the net so far this season after netting 23 times last term but the coach puts greater value on the hard work that he puts in for the team.

Ancelotti told reporters ahead of Madrid's Champions League match against Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday (22.10.24): "We're satisfied with his work, I'm very satisfied.

"It's true he hasn't scored the goals he scored last year, but the surprise isn't this year, the surprise was last year, when he scored lots of goals which nobody expected and helped us a lot. The problem this year isn't that we're lacking Bellingham's goals.

"We've always scored goals, and we'll always score, because we have talented players up front. For us, in this moment, the work he's doing is more important than the goals the scored last year."

Ancelotti also revealed that he isn't fussed about criticism of Kylian Mbappe's off-the-ball work, so long as the French superstar contributes with goals.

The Italian manager said: "[I ask him] to score goals. I prefer him to score goals rather than pressing. The centre forward role hasn't changed for us, I ask the same of Mbappe that I asked Karim [Benzema], to be ready when we win the ball, and try to make a fast transition."

Madrid are yet to taste defeat in La Liga this season but Ancelotti acknowledged that performances will need to improve if they are to overhaul rivals Barcelona at the top of the table.

He said: "We aren't 100 per cent, obviously. We've got good results, but we have to improve in terms of our play, and little by little, we will... We have to defend better, as we did last year. Right now the team is less solid, and we're working on that."