Champions League: Real Madrid’s Mbappé and Bellingham warn their rivals

Kylian Mbappé said he believes he “can do more” despite scoring five goals in seven games since joining Real Madrid this summer, while teammate Jude Bellingham added he believes the reigning La Liga champions “can improve”.

Madrid began their Champions League title defence on Tuesday with a hard-fought 3-1 home win against Stuttgart.

Stuttgart looked to be the better team before Mbappé broke the deadlock early in the second half, scoring for Madrid for the third game in a row.

“I can do more,” said Mbappé.

Mbappé, who signed a five-year contract with the Spanish record champions this summer after leaving Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer, also scored in his team's 2-0 away win at Real Sociedad on Saturday.

The captain of the French national team has scored three times in five league matches.

“I know I will do more,” said Mbappé. “With each game I feel better and now I'm scoring goals. I'm happy here.”

Mbappé was also happy about Endrick's goal on his Champions League debut.

“He scored his goal and separated himself from the players,” Mbappé said of the Brazilian striker. “He is very young. He is 18. He is getting his playing time and he is scoring his goals.”

Bellingham, meanwhile, acknowledged that there is still room for improvement.

Madrid conceded the equaliser in the 68th minute, having previously relied on a series of saves from Thibaut Courtois before late goals from Antonio Rüdiger and Endrick sealed the win.

“Courtois is the best in the world and he makes incredible saves,” said the England midfielder. “But we have to make sure he keeps a clean sheet.”

“There are still things we can improve. I think we all need some time to get back to our best form. Once we get back to it, it will be great. We're playing great now sometimes. We just need to be more consistent.”

When asked about his relationship with Madrid's attacking trio of Vinícius Júnior, Mbappé and Rodrygo, Bellingham said: “I read a lot on social media about Rodrygo being missing or me being missing from the foursome. They try to create a negative situation. Kylian has arrived, I have a great relationship with Rodrygo and we feel like we have been together for a long time.”

“Off the pitch we are all good friends and enjoy playing. Today [Tuesday] We demonstrated this on the pitch.”

Madrid are third in LaLiga after five games, four points behind leaders Barcelona, ​​and host Espanyol on Saturday.