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Jude Bellingham celebrated reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League before claiming he was targeted by Spanish match officials because he is new to LaLiga.
The England midfielder has been banned for two matches after telling referee Jesus Gil Manzano that ‘it was a goal’ following his late disallowed winner against Valencia on Saturday. He scored just a second after the match official blew the final whistle.
Bellingham said of the red card and two-match ban: “I haven’t said anything offensive, I haven’t said anything different to my teammates and I think because I’m new, sometimes they want to make a point. example from me.
“Ultimately I have to be responsible for my actions and I am not proud of that, but two games before that I think is a bit ridiculous, but if it is two games I have to take responsibility and I cheer from the stands.”
Bellingham set up Vinicius Jnr for Real Madrid’s goal in their 1-1 draw. Leipzig pulled a goal back, but it wasn’t enough to prevent Madrid going through 2-1 on aggregate.
Jude Bellingham claimed he is being targeted by LaLiga officials because he is a newcomer to Spain
The England midfielder was sent off and handed a two-match ban for being furious with his disallowed winner against Valencia last weekend
Bellingham retired Vinicius Jr. for the goal that sent Real Madrid through to the round of 16 of the Champions League
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He watched from the sidelines as the fourteen-time champion avoided extra time. When Dani Olmo’s looping shot hit the top of the crossbar in extra time, Santiago Bernabeu feared the worst.
Bellingham seemed to deflate towards the end of the match, but it was Ancelotti’s gamble and extra time was still possible.
The fourteen-time tournament winner was whistled off at half-time and coach Carlo Ancelotti said: ‘We deserved that. We played poorly and not enough intensity. We were slow and played too many sideways passes.
‘We suffered, but the most important thing was to reach the quarter-finals and we did that. They had nothing to lose and we played with the brakes on.”
The cheering started ten minutes before the half-time whistle, as they played too slowly and predictably to bother the Germans.
Madrid saw time despite the late scare when Olmo’s shot came back off the crossbar. They stumbled instead of reaching the final eight and Nacho admitted they were lucky.
“They played very well and we didn’t,” said the defender. ‘It wasn’t our best night, but we have to be satisfied that we got through it; the mission is accomplished.”