Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham said that “emotions get high” when questioned on an alleged training ground bust-up with teammate Antonio Rudiger ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League quarter-final second leg against Arsenal.
Bellingham and Rudiger are said to have been involved in an altercation during a training session earlier this week, with the former believed to have reacted angrily to a heavy challenge from the latter.
The two players allegedly had to be separated by their teammates, but Bellingham played down the incident when he spoke to the media ahead of the Champions League last-eight second leg against Arsenal.
“It’s football, it’s normal on the pitch that emotions get high. You communicate with teammates louder than you’d communicate with your mum and dad,” Bellingham told reporters.
“For every negative interaction you see, there’s 20 positive interactions. That will get lost in the media which is fine, as long as the team respects each other to have those honest conversations.”
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Bellingham plays down Rudiger ‘incident’ during training
Real Madrid suffered a 3-0 defeat to Arsenal in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final last week, so the reigning champions have a mountain to climb in the second leg on home soil.
“At the Bernabeu there is always an incredible atmosphere, the energy is contagious. We can feel it, it brings out the best in us,” Bellingham added on Tuesday.
“We shouldn’t ask the Madridistas to do anything they haven’t done. It’s up to us, we also have to feel their energy and give everything to make them proud.
“We have to show something much better than what we did in the first game. More commitment, more confidence on the ball… there are a lot of things. I don’t think we didn’t give our best, but we know we can do things much better and that’s what we want to show tomorrow.
“It’s true that, if you run more, you have more chances. Yes, this influences the game. But last year it was the same: we didn’t run the most and we won the Champions League.
“We have to know what it means to run to one side and to the other. We have to know how to run. Tomorrow we’re going to want to run a lot more and hopefully we’ll have a better plan to do that.”
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Ancelotti: ‘We need to play at our maximum level’
Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti has said that his side need to play at their “maximum level” in order to stand a chance of progressing to the semi-finals of the competition.
“Obviously, it’s very important. The push from the fans has helped us a lot in recent years. Tomorrow we need a game at our maximum level to try to change a tie that is very complicated. Tomorrow we will try to change this thinking,” he said.
“We will try to play a serious game, with head, with heart… with balls, as Alcaraz says. On a mental level, we are very good. We have to have good control of the match.
“We have the commitment, the experience, the players, the fans… the resources are there. Last year, nobody said we played spectacular football. We want to play effective football.
“I have spoken to them about the emotional aspect, about how we have to experience this match. The motivation is there, I want the player to be calm to prepare for it. The only thing we’re not sure of is that we can get this result, but it’s certain that we’ll get the best out of ourselves.”
Real Madrid have failed to keep a single clean sheet at home in the Champions League this season, demonstrating the size of their task when it comes to Wednesday’s showdown with Arsenal.
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