Declan Rice's 'surprising' heroics will have gnawed away at Jude Bellingham - and Real Madrid need the England star at boiling point to overturn Arsenal deficit, writes ISAAN KHAN
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- Jude Bellingham's Real Madrid will take on Arsenal in the Champions League
- The England star will need to be at his best to help overturn a huge 3-0 deficit
- LISTEN NOW: It's All Kicking Off! Is it fair for Man United or Tottenham to go straight into the Champions League if they win the Europa League?
Strolling into Real Madrid’s pre-match press conference wearing adidas sliders, Jude Bellingham had arrived for a rare media appearance.
Seven rows of chairs were crammed together for an expectant international press pack from Spain, the UK and further afield for a 21-year-old who has taken Madrid by storm.
The England man’s star power, both on and off the pitch, commands this attention. He scored in his first four La Liga matches upon signing from Borussia Dortmund in June 2023 for £88.5million and has, largely, stayed in the ascendancy.
His on-field exploits and off-field celebrity means the interest in Bellingham goes way beyond the usual realms of a footballer — as seen in this room yesterday, filled with journalists all eager to talk to a player who last year accused the English press of making him a scapegoat for the national team’s shortcomings at the Euros.
Bellingham is impeccable in front of the camera in both demeanour and sound bites.
But, more pertinently to this second-leg tie in which Real Madrid are seeking to overturn a 3-0 deficit against Arsenal — a club they have failed to score against in three attempts — it was Declan Rice’s barnstorming man-of-the-match display which will have gnawed away at him. His England team-mate struck two world class free-kicks on top of a brilliant all-round display.
And Bellingham could not help but flash a toothy grin when asked a question about Rice’s golden strikes.
‘I think the free-kicks were surprising,’ the Madrid man smiled. ‘I knew Dec could take set-pieces really well, corners and stuff, but I had never seen him do that with the free-kicks.
‘Fair play to him. That was probably the only thing though (that was surprising), we knew they were a really good team, we knew they had a really good manager and were going to be organised.’
He will be champing at the bit for a different narrative at the Bernabeu tonight, hoping his performance shines in the battle of England’s two best midfielders.
This season has required some adaptation by Bellingham, to the detriment of his attacking play. The marquee signing of Kylian Mbappe last summer has seen Bellingham occupy a deeper role than last season, in which he regularly operated as a No 10.
It is he who is often tasked with the dirty work of tracking back on the left of a midfield four, while the likes of Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo maraud forward at will.
The matter has, unsurprisingly, occasionally led to dissension. Take extra time in Real Madrid’s second leg against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League last month.
Bellingham tore back into his own half to slide in and dispossess Marcos Llorente as Atletico counter-attacked.
Afterwards, he twice furiously thumped the turf before raging at Vinicius for being bypassed too easily in the build-up.
During the 3-0 loss at the Emirates last Tuesday, he was seen shaking his head after a chat with boss Carlo Ancelotti and fellow midfielder Eduardo Camavinga on the touchline. On a question about his tussles with Vinicius, Bellingham could not hide another smile, before replying: ‘There has to be that level of honesty and ruthlessness with each other.
‘You guys highlight that more than anything. For every one of those you see, there are probably 20 positive interactions. As long as the team respect each other enough to have honest conversations, that is really important.’
It reflects a personality which, despite his tender age, has put Bellingham in a leadership role in this Los Blancos team.
Personas and character are essential at this club. Walking up the stairs to the press conference room, each wall features legends of yesteryear.
Raul has the word orgullo (pride) on his picture and one of the Galacticos side featuring Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo and Luis Figo has historia (history).
On a frame displaying the trophies won since Real Madrid’s formation in 1902, their record 36 La Liga titles is not at the top — their 15 Champions League trophies rank highest. They have an obsession with winning it and are well-versed in doing so.
On the most-used word in their dressing room since the Arsenal defeat, Bellingham quoted the Spanish for ‘comeback’.
‘Remontada,’ he said. ‘Honestly, I’ve heard it about a million times since last week, I’ve seen a million videos online, made by fans, made by you guys. It is really motivating stuff.’
If they are to perform a remontada, Bellingham will need to be at his best.
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