One of the many reasons Jude Bellingham has become such a hit at Real Madrid is because of the way he has bought into the whole culture of the club. Bellingham stands tall, was not intimidated by wearing the No.5 shirt made famous by Zinedine Zidane and he really talks the talk.
The England midfielder talked up the whole “remontada” – the Spanish buzzword for comeback – before Real Madrid’s Champions League quarter final second leg at the Bernabeu. And then tried his very best to wind up Declan Rice, Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka on the pitch, having tried the same with Myles Lewis-Skelly in the first leg.
Real Madrid stars have always tried to rely on mind games to intimidate opponents – but could not get in the heads of the Arsenal players.
And, if anything, Rice left a greater impression on Bellingham than the other way round. Over the course of the two games, there can be no doubt who came out on top. Rice scored two sensational free kicks in the first leg win at the Emirates. Then in the return, Rice was equally brilliant as he produced a sensational, marauding midfield display which was at the heart of Arsenal’s win at the Bernabeu.
Rice protected his defence, was strong and commanding in the middle of the pitch and drove forward. Surely after watching this, Thomas Tuchel has to ditch the notion of using Rice as a holding No.6 midfielder and let him off the leash as a proper No.8.
The Arsenal midfielder showed he can do everything. And he outshone Bellingham in the process. Rice dominated Bellingham in both games and, after a few whispers and doubts as to whether the Arsenal man could deliver on the biggest stage, he definitely had the last word.
Bellingham did try to get into Lewis-Skelly at the Emirates as TV picked up that he alerted the ref to a strong challenge. Then at the Bernabeu, Rice pushed Bellingham out of the way as he was into the ref again after a penalty was given – and then overruled – for Kylian Mbappe’s dive.
Bellingham clearly said something to Saka before he took his own disastrous penalty – and duly missed. You cannot fault Bellingham for trying every trick in the book and it’s about time more England players used the dark arts and became more streetwise. It is what Real Madrid players do.
And we cannot lose sight here that last season Bellingham was sensational in his first season at the club as he won the biggest prize of all: the Champions League. This season, like the rest of the team, it has been more of a struggle. The new formation looks unbalanced and certainly does not help Bellingham because squeezing so many attackers into one formation is just too much.
Ultimately, it will probably be the reason why Carlo Ancelotti loses his job because sometimes you have to leave players out to pick a balanced line-up. Real Madrid looked unbalanced, out of form and way below their best against Arsenal.
But part of the reason they were poor was Arsenal made them look it, too. Rice bossed midfield in both games. There can be no doubt that all is fair in love and war and when the players all join up for England duty, they will all understand that you do what you have to do to win.
However, Rice must have given Tuchel food for thought over where to play him. He is way too good just to sit and play the No.6. But will playing in the No.8 role cut across Bellingham?
They are issues that Tuchel will have to solve because you cannot just pick the 11 best players and let them get on with it. It did not work for Lee Carsley and it has not been working for Real Madrid.
And what is clear is that Bellingham is the star name, the darling of the Bernabeu, but it was Rice who stole the show and the headlines this time.
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