Few club legends have had as much of an impact at Real Madrid as Alfredo Di Stefano. Between 1953 and 1964, the Argentine-born striker helped Real Madrid become one of the greatest teams in Spain and Europe.
He scored 308 goals in 396 games for the club, a record that has since been surpassed by Raul Gonzalez (323 goals in 741 games), Karim Benzema (354 goals in 648 games) and Cristiano Ronaldo (450 goals in 438 games). Di Stefano's goals were instrumental in Real Madrid winning five consecutive European Cups from 1956 to 1960.
At Real Madrid, Di Stefano won eight La Liga titles, the Spanish Cup and the Intercontinental Cup as well as several individual honours. He won the Ballon d'Or twice, in 1957 and 1959. France Football magazine later awarded him the Super Ballon d'Or in 1989, an award given only once to the best player.
Di Stefano and Real Madrid won 5 consecutive European Cups (Photo: Getty).
Being compared to Di Stefano, who died in 2014 aged 88, is the greatest honour for any Real Madrid player. This season, parallels have been drawn with Jude Bellingham following the Englishman's spectacular start to life at the club, scoring 17 goals in 21 games since joining the Bernabeu this summer.
So are the comparisons justified? And how similar are their playing styles? Three former team-mates of Di Stefano weigh in to see whether 20-year-old Bellingham really deserves to be compared to the man they nicknamed La Saeta Rubia (the blonde arrow).
Di Stefano is like the name of a god
"What I have always said and continue to say is that when you talk about Di Stefano, there is only one Di Stefano. End of debate."
That's how Antonio Ruiz, a midfielder who played for Real Madrid from 1956 to 1962, describes his former team-mate. For some, Real Madrid fandom can be like a religion and in the home of Ruiz, 86, Di Stefano's name is like that of a god.
"He definitely changed the club completely," said Ruiz. "He on the pitch and Don Santiago Bernabeu (Real Madrid's president from 1943 to 1978) in the office created a club like no other. Real Madrid had only won two titles when Di Stefano arrived and he instilled victory in the team."
Top scorers in C1/Champions League finals
It wasn't just about trophies, Ruiz said Di Stefano was everywhere on the pitch at a time when playing positions were not yet clearly defined.
"He would defend, we would cut the ball off, pass it to (striker) Paco Gento, who would cross it and he (Di Stefano) would finish. It was incredible what he did in that aspect. Di Stefano was not a natural centre-forward because he played all over the pitch."
Another former team-mate of Di Stefano, Manolin Bueno, now 83, agrees. "The only position Di Stefano didn't play was goalkeeper," Bueno said. "He was everywhere on the pitch, you can't imagine what he was like."
Bueno played for Real Madrid from 1959 to 1971, winning two European Cups. He now lives in Cadiz, where he has a trophy cabinet in his house. Watching some of Bellingham's highlights from this season, he points out the similarities between the two.
Bueno said of Di Stefano: "It didn't matter who the opponent got the ball from, he would run towards the opponent to win it back. He started inside left, and I was the left winger."
"Bellingham didn't play as a striker, he played in behind, like Di Stefano. But Di Stefano played the type of game where he would take the ball from the goalkeeper, bring the ball up from behind, deeper than Bellingham."
Half artist, half warrior
Di Stefano was widely seen as a man who would do anything for Real Madrid: He would often drop back to help defend, or launch attacks from the back. The same can be said of Bellingham's style of play this season.
As Alfredo Relano, former editor-in-chief of Spanish sports daily AS, who met both Bellingham and Di Stefano, wrote: "Bellingham had aspects of Di Stefano. Half artist, half warrior."
Bellingham has a similar all-round game, but Ruiz still feels his defensive work is not as clear as Di Stefano's.
Ruiz said of the England player: "Bellingham works very well in midfield and moves very well (in the box), but the only thing that is different is that he doesn't run as much. Someone loses the ball and Di Stefano will quickly chase it."
Former player Ruiz watches how Bellingham plays through videos (Photo: Athletic).
Jose Araquistain was also a former teammate of Di Stefano, a goalkeeper of Basque descent who played for Real Madrid from 1961 to 1964.
"I've never met anyone like Di Stefano. He didn't stop for a second," Araquistain said. "He wasn't Diego Maradona but he had power in his shots. Di Stefano was very intelligent in his approach to the penalty area. On the pitch, he took charge of everything."
Araquistain, now 86, described Di Stefano as extremely competitive and demanding, citing a match at Old Trafford in December 1961 to illustrate his point.
"He would get angry at everything," Araquistain said. "There was one time he got angry at me. As soon as I arrived at Real Madrid, I played a friendly against Man Utd in England, they scored after a challenge and Di Stefano started insulting me."
"I wasn't used to it so I said he had insulted me. We started fighting. It got very serious, our teammates separated us, took us to the dressing room and in the end we lost 2-3."
"That was on Wednesday. On Thursday we returned to Madrid and on Friday Raimundo Saporta (a club official) met the two of us. He explained to Di Stefano what the Basques were like and he explained to me what the Argentinians were like. We shook hands, Di Stefano invited us to lunch and we became good friends."
Bellingham also has leadership qualities.
Araquistain also said that Di Stefano "wouldn't lose" even the card games they played on the way to matches. Ruiz said that was another aspect he saw similarities with Bellingham.
Bellingham is considered to have leadership qualities (Photo: Getty).
"I can compare Di Stefano to Bellingham in terms of personality," said Ruiz. "Di Stefano was very intelligent. He encouraged us and if he had to shout at his teammates, he would. It wasn't because Di Stefano wanted to be a coach, it was because he didn't want to lose.
Di Stefano would go crazy with himself if he didn't play well, he had such passion and enthusiasm. I haven't found anyone who has that yet. Not wanting to lose was probably Di Stefano's greatest virtue."
"You can see Bellingham is also a player who wants to win games. If he continues like that, I see him being a leader."
Indeed, few would argue with Bellingham's leadership this season. He has made an easy move to the Bernabeu and has quickly established himself as a key member of the squad, despite his young age.
When striker Joselu finally scored in the win over Napoli in November after a series of missed chances, Bellingham pushed him towards the crowd to enjoy his moment.
Few could have predicted such a good start for Bellingham. His goal against Cadiz last month was his 14th in his first 15 games for Real Madrid, surpassing both Di Stefano and Ronaldo, who had 13 goals in their first 15 games.
Bellingham's ability to score from a variety of positions, taking chances in the penalty area, heading in a tricky effort or a long-range effort against Barcelona turned El Clasico upside down.
However, there was one great goal from Bellingham that reminded Ruiz of Di Stefano: a fierce finish after a save from goalkeeper David Soria on his Bernabeu home debut against Getafe.
"That goal was scored by Alfredo in the fifth European Cup final (Real Madrid won 7-3 against Eintracht Frankfurt with three goals from Di Stefano)," said Ruiz. "The goalkeeper saved it and Di Stefano came in at the right time like Bellingham did."
According to Bueno, there is one area where Bellingham has an advantage over Di Stefano. "Bellingham shoots with both feet," he said. "Di Stefano doesn't shoot with both feet as naturally."
However, Bellingham will have to work much harder in the future to be able to match Di Stefano in terms of all-round play. Ruiz believes that there are better players than Di Stefano, but no one has shown the same quality in matches.
"Di Stefano was the most complete player in history," said Ruiz. "That doesn't mean he was the best player, but he was definitely the most complete. If you need 10 conditions to play football, he had 10 conditions at a higher level."
"Bellingham is 20 years old, he has personality and technique. He is very similar to Di Stefano. We won't say Bellingham is the best, but he is very good."
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