Jude Bellingham endured a nightmare return to Real Madrid's starting XI as Xabi Alonso's side were thrashed 5-2 by their bitter rivals Atletico Madrid.

Bellingham made his first start of the season after his shoulder surgery in July ruled him out of the opening weeks. 

But the Englishman was branded 'not effective' by fan media and 'not fit enough' after putting in 70 minutes at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano on Saturday. 

This was Los Blancos' biggest derby defeat in 75 years and only the fourth time they had conceded five at the hands of Atletico - the previous most recent being in a 6-3 goalfest in 1950. 

Madrid are still top of the league but Atletico cut their personal gap to six points thanks to goals from Robin Le Normand, Alexander Sorloth, and Antoine Griezmann, with Julian Alvarez striking twice. Los Blancos had been 2-1 early on after Arda Guler and Kylian Mbappe's goals but they were unable to hang on. 

About Bellingham's performance, Managing Madrid wrote: 'Jude Bellingham was not fit enough to start a scrappy and physical derby. 

'He may have been a good option off the bench, and maybe it would not have mattered anyway, but apart from a few good challenges in the first half, Bellingham was not up to speed with the game. 

'He looked gassed out by the time he was substituted, and the substitute itself came too late.'

Bellingham returned to the pitch earlier this month as he racked up minutes off the bench against Espanyol and Levante but this was his first start since last season.

He finally underwent shoulder surgery in July - having played through his injury since November 2023 - and has since undertaken a mission to achieve a more streamlined physique, as per AS. 

While he was playing with the blow, Madrid got Bellingham to pile on the muscle mass in a bid to protect his shoulder and prevent it from being dislocated again.

Now, though, they've asked Bellingham to trim down and become 'sharper' to play his role in Xabi Alonso's high-octane pressing game. 

The hope is that he can regain the form he initially showed after his £113million move from Borussia Dortmund in 2023. 

In that first season, Bellingham banged in 23 goals and provided 13 assists, numbers which dropped to 15 each - still impressive - in his second campaign in the Spanish capital. 

After making his return against Espanyol earlier this month, Bellingham wrote: 'Missed this and all of you so much. Truly humbled by the love you gave me in the stadium today and the support from everyone throughout my recovery, it means the world to me. Now for more. Hala Madrid!'

The 22-year-old underwent surgery in London over the summer after becoming 'tired of playing with a sling'.

He fell awkwardly and dislocated his shoulder way back in November 2023 during a LaLiga match against Rayo Vallecano.

Bellingham played in all six of Madrid's Club World Cup matches this summer, helping his side reach the semi-finals by contributing a goal and an assist along the way, but it was finally time to get his injury sorted properly. 

Posting on Instagram after the surgery, he wrote: 'Thank you to Andrew Wallace and Susan Alexander, their team and everyone at Fortius Clinic for the surgery and hospitality.

'To Ivan Ortega and Dr Leyes for travelling to support. And finally, to everyone else for all the well wishes and messages of love. The process to come back has already started, see you soon.'