ALISON BENDER believes Carlo Ancelotti is the perfect “father figure” for England sensation Jude Bellingham.
The midfielder fired Real Madrid to Champions League and LaLiga glory in a stunning first season at Los Blancos.
He now carries the hopes of our nation on his shoulders as he looks to fire the Three Lions to Euro 2024 joy.
Sky Sports regular Bender, who has just become the new face of the Pakistan Football League, knows a thing or two about being English at Bernabeu.
She created and launched the hugely-successful Real Madrid TV before then going on to work for Chelsea TV.
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And she was in no doubt when speaking to Sun Sport in Pakistan last week that “the best leader of men” is providing the ideal conditions for Bellingham to thrive in the pressure-pot of Madrid.
Bender said: “I’m just so happy he’s at Madrid and he’s thriving under Ancelotti.
“He’s such a good footballer and human and all of that will help his performances, if it’s even possible, go to the next level.
“I’ve done interviews with Gareth Bale and Michael Owen about this, but their fans can turn on you in the most awful way and they hiss at you.
“The Bernabeu can be one of the most intimidating in the world and nasty, so you have to go about it in the right way to get the fans onside.
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“Racism is also an issue, and I think the fact that Bellingham is mixed race and will be their superstar - not many people have spoken about that but I think that it can be so powerful.
“Not many people have spoken about that but it’s something I think about a lot.
“I saw the racism in Spain first-hand and it shocked me.
“There’s definitely a lack of education and a lot of problems in Spain.
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“But Bellingham, with his mam and dad, he has got his head screwed on and with the start that he has made so far I don’t think he’ll have any problems.”
Bender continued: “And, of course, he’s got Ancelotti. I worked with him at Chelsea TV and he’s the best leader of men that I’ve ever met.
“He’s so cool, lovely, warm and welcoming and he treats everybody the same.
“You know how Jose Mourinho lived in a hotel and really struggled in Manchester as he didn’t have his family around him - Carlo has always made it a family affair wherever he has been.
“His son Davide is his assistant, which Real Madrid don’t normally like that, they would prefer an ex player.
“Carlo has all this wealth of experience but in Davide, he has this younger guy that can have an almost closer connection to the players in a way.
“Someone like Bellingham might not relate to Carlo as he’s so old, but he can be like the father figure to him, but if he needed to speak about more recent things to him then he’s got Davide.”
Bender had a number of unforgettable experiences during her own time working in the Spanish capital - but it was at Chelsea that she got to see the people skills of Ancelotti, who turned 65 this week, up close.
She revealed: “I saw him in the canteen at Chelsea when I was working there just after he’d started and he was sat there alone.
“So I went and spoke to him, just to try and make him feel a bit welcome.
“He asked me if I knew any nice Italian restaurants, so I mentioned that coincidentally my sister was singing at Pagliaccio’s the next night at 7pm and he should come.
“I thought nothing more of it until the next day, bang on 7pm, Carlo walks in and comes and joins us. He’s such a lovely guy.”
Bender’s latest adventure is also something truly unique as she joined forces with England legend and ex-Madrid forward Owen to officially launch the brand-new Pakistan Football League last week.
Bender has agreed to be the official face of the league and spent a gruelling four hours on stage as she hosted the official launch in Lahore on Thursday.
The eight-team league is set to be conducted in November this year and is being organised by the PFL UK Holdings, led by its chairman Farhan Junejo and president and CEO Ahmer Kunwar.
Bender added: “You can’t help but get caught up in the excitement when you talk to people and you start to think that this is hopefully going to make a difference.
“As a girl in football, I’m used to people telling me that I don’t belong there and there must be kids here that have untapped talent but don’t have the right infrastructure to make it.
“We can’t run before we can walk but everything has to start somewhere.”
