For Real Madrid, the Champions League quarter-final second leg against FC Bayern represents a chance to salvage their entire season. A difficult task, as Jude Bellingham acknowledges.
Jude Bellingham and Real Madrid view the Champions League quarter-final second leg against FC Bayern as a ‘final’ and an ‘all-or-nothing game.’ The English international stated this at the press conference ahead of Wednesday evening’s showdown at the Allianz Arena.
For Los Blancos and Bellingham, the stakes are nothing less than saving a season that has been disastrous at both league and cup levels thus far. With a nine-point deficit to FC Barcelona and only seven games remaining, the league title is virtually out of reach. In the cup, they suffered a humiliating second-round exit against Albacete. This was the first match under the management of Alvaro Arbeloa, after Xabi Alonso had resigned shortly after the Supercopa final loss to Barça.
Now, according to Bellingham, they have one last chance in Munich to ‘make all the bad things of the season be forgotten. It’s very important for this club and for all the players. We want to still be playing for something at the end of the season, we still want to win the Champions League, and we all know what’s coming and what tomorrow is about.’
FC Bayern? Bellingham: ‘That’s Insane!’
One thing is clear: Madrid enters the second leg at FC Bayern with a disadvantage. Bayern won at the Bernabeu for the first time in 25 years, securing a 2-1 victory. ‘Every defeat in the Champions League feels like a disaster,’ Bellingham said, but now it’s about ‘putting everything into this game. We have to be present, we have to show up. We can’t hide.’
Bellingham, who recently returned from a muscle injury and is not yet in absolute top form, doesn’t have the fondest memories of the Allianz Arena. He hasn’t won any of his five away games there with BVB or Real, and in all his losses with Dortmund, they conceded at least three goals. ‘Every time I’ve been here with Dortmund, it’s been a bad experience,’ he concluded.
And winning in Munich hasn’t gotten any easier in recent months. Bellingham also emphasized this. ‘The intensity with which they play, that’s insane,’ he expressed admiration for Munich’s powerful football under Vincent Kompany, but he particularly highlighted the qualities of Harry Kane.
‘Harry is an incredible player, it’s unbelievable to see the form he has reached,’ he enthused about his national team captain and lamented his ‘brothers in Dortmund,’ who will again have to yield to Kane and Bayern in the championship race this year. Now, it’s up to him to achieve what his former club couldn’t. ‘We want to stop Bayern and Harry!’
For Real Coach Arbeloa, His Job is Also on the Line Against FC Bayern
Coach Alvaro Arbeloa, meanwhile, spoke of ‘making history. We all believe we can achieve the comeback. We are Real Madrid. We have great players, everyone is 100 percent fit. I can promise that we will give everything for this crest.’
The Royal club will be without not only key players Aurelien Tchouameni (yellow card suspension) and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois (muscle tear) but also defender Raul Asencio (stomach bug). In addition, there’s the ongoing crisis in form for Los Blancos, who are now winless in three games. Arbeloa’s position is also precarious because of this.
An exit in Munich could cost him his job. This might also explain his perhaps overly aggressive stance before the showdown: ‘We had many chances and conceded little. Now we are travelling to Germany with full conviction, to win there and, if necessary, to die there.’