JUDE BELLINGHAM was reportedly applauded in the Real Madrid dressing room after a rousing speech.
The reigning Champions League holders were stunned in the first leg of their quarter-final with Arsenal.
Declan Rice’s pair of magical free-kicks and Mikel Merino’s superb finish gave the Gunners a shock 3-0 lead at the midway point of the tie.
Los Blancos have NEVER overturned a three-goal deficit in a Champions League knockout tie.
But Bellingham is refusing to give up on a spectacular comeback at the Bernabeu next Wednesday.
According to El Chiringuito TV, the English midfielder was one of a number of senior players who addressed the squad in the angry away dressing room at the Emirates.
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Bellingham, Fede Valverde, Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappe all took the floor to try and rouse the team – who responded with rapturous applause.
As per the TV station, Valverde’s motivational speech centred on the pride of playing and fighting for Real Madrid and the club’s rich history as 15-time Kings of Europe.
The Uruguayan midfielder allegedly said: “What happened to us? This can’t happen.
“We have 90 minutes more and we have to show that we are Real Madrid.
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“We have 15 Champions Leagues.
“We need to score in the first 15 minutes.
“If we score in the first 15 minutes we will win.”
He finished the speech by proudly declaring: “We will come back!”
And that sparked more vociferous reactions from his team-mates.
Tensions were clearly running high as Real’s latest defence of the Champions League threatened to go up in smoke in the first leg.
Even at 0-0, Bellingham appeared to have a heated exchange with Carlo Ancelotti – seemingly shaking his head and flapping his arms in response to his manager’s instructions.
But despite the heavy advantage, Arsenal know they still have work to do to reach the semi-finals.
William Saliba is wary of Madrid’s status as the crazy comeback kings on their own patch – and told Arsenal to fight fire with fire in one of Europe’s greatest arenas.
He said: “We are not scared. We want to go there and win the game.
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“We cannot defend the whole game. We won 3-0 but we know it is not finished. There are a lot of things that can happen.
“It was incredible because to win in a quarter-final like this against Madrid, in front of our fans, is amazing. But now we have to do it again next week.”
Arsenal ratings vs Real Madrid as Declan Rice’s free-kick thunderbolts earn him an ELEVEN out of 10
BEND it like Beckham? More like bend it like Declan…
It was a set-piece clinic from the Arsenal midfielder as he scored the first free-kicks of his career against Real Madrid – and the first player in Champions League history to score multiple direct free-kicks in the same knockout stage game.
Thibaut Courtois was on hand to save Real Madrid in a fast paced first half as he pulled off a fine double save to deny a Rice header and a follow-up effort from Gabriel Martinelli.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 58th minute as England star Rice whipped in a sensational free-kick.
Rice then sent the Emirates into the stratosphere with as he added a second with an even better free-kick from the left side of the goal which he rifled into the top right corner.
Mikel Merino then swept a devastating third into the bottom corner from a low cross to put the cherry on a remarkable night.
Rice’s epic showing was enough to earn him an unprecedented ELEVEN in our player ratings.
Here’s how SunSport’s Jordan Davies rated the rest of the Gunners…
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
