Real Madrid blow as Jude Bellingham handed second suspension in four days | OneFootball

It has a near-perfect evening for Real Madrid on Wednesday as they booked their place in the last 16 of this season’s Champions League. Carlo Ancelotti’s side won 3-1 against Manchester City in the second leg of their play-off round tie at the Santiago Bernabeu, and their next opposition in the competition will be either Atletico Madrid or Bayer Leverkusen, with that to be determined during Friday’s draw.

However, the one and only downside of the match earlier this week (aside from losing the clean sheet in stoppage time) is that Jude Bellingham picked up a one-match suspension due to accumulation of yellow cards, as per Diario AS. The 21-year-old picked up the caution from referee Istvan Kovacs after a late challenge on countryman Phil Foden, and it means that he won’t be able to play in the first leg of the last 16 tie, which will be played at the Bernabeu.

Jude Bellingham is now suspended for three upcoming Real Madrid matches (Photo by Getty Images)

It is the second suspension that Bellingham has incurred over the last few days. On Saturday, he was sent off for dissent during Real Madrid’s 1-1 draw against Osasuna, and for that, he will miss the upcoming La Liga matches against Girona and Real Sociedad – an appeal had been filed over this, but the ban was confirmed hours before the Manchester City match on Wednesday.

Bellingham’s suspension is bad news for Ancelotti, who is fully aware of how important the English superstar is in his side. The fortunate thing is that he will return for the all-important second leg, which will be played at the Metropolitano or the Bayer Arena, depending on who Real Madrid are drawn against on Friday.

The situation does give an important for some of the squad players in the Real Madrid first team squad. Brahim Diaz is the favourite to replace Bellingham, but there are also options for Arda Guler- equally, an additional midfielder may be used by Ancelotti, such as Eduardo Camavinga or Luka Modric.