Given that Manchester City hammered Real Madrid 4-0 in their previous meeting only 11 months ago, it came as no surprise that the Spaniards were trying to project positive thoughts into the minds of their players and supporters on Monday.
Real’s in-house television channel, which airs in every building of their vast, state-of-the-art training centre — and across the world — was showing highlights of Champions League/European Cup triumphs of yesteryear.
Real have won the competition a record 14 times, so they certainly had enough archive footage to use.
The highlights included Gareth Bale’s extra-time header in the 2014 final in Lisbon, where Real beat Atletico Madrid to win their tenth title.
Ten years on, Real have a new British galactico among their ranks in Jude Bellingham and, given the impression he has made since joining in the summer, there is a feeling that he could have an even bigger impact than Bale, who won 15 pieces of silverware, including five Champions League titles, during his nine years at the club.
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“Jude Bellingham is incredible,” Zinédine Zidane, the Real legend, said of the England international. “He has surpassed all expectations. I’m a big fan of him, and I wish for him to lift all the trophies.”
If you are in the centre of Madrid, you are never likely to be far away from Bellingham. A picture of the midfielder sits front and centre of the Real superstore on Gran Vía, Madrid’s best-known and busiest street. Just down the road, a stall sells unofficial Real scarves bearing Bellingham’s face.
Recently footage emerged of the two sons of Marcelo, a five-times Champions League winner with Real, mimicking Bellingham’s goal celebration — chest out, arms stretched wide and head held high.
Bellingham’s immediate concern is not growing his brand or winning his first La Liga title. Instead his focus is on City, who play the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday in front of a sell-out crowd of 81,000.
He will be useful in two aspects. First, because of his personality. Carlo Ancelotti said on Monday that his Real team lacked “courage and personality” in last year’s semi-final hammering at the Etihad, which eliminated them 5-1 on aggregate.
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“I didn’t know much about him, but after he signed I was like, ‘Wow, he’s a big personality,’ and in our locker room that is massive,” Antonio Rüdiger, the Real centre back, said.
“The way he handles himself is very good. He’s 20 but if you talk to him you feel like this guy has already seen everything in life. He’s very mature. I’m not surprised any more. I’m sure he’ll be a leader for England.”
Bellingham, just like the City stars Erling Haaland, Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne, loves playing in big matches. In six Champions League games for Real he has scored four times and set up four more goals.
The youngster has also scored against every top-five opponent, except Atletico. He scored both goals in Real’s 2-1 triumph away to Barcelona in October, which underlined their supremacy in the Spanish title race. Ancelotti’s side are eight points ahead of Barcelona with eight matches left.
Second, Bellingham’s technical ability should mean that City encounter more problems than they did in their previous meeting against Ancelotti’s side. In City’s three knockout ties against Real during Pep Guardiola’s reign, they have primarily concerned themselves with shutting down Karim Benzema, but the French No 9 left for Saudi Arabia in the summer.
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Since then Ancelotti has changed formation, deploying Bellingham as a false nine, which means that the wingers Vinícius Júnior, who scored at home against City last year, and Rodrygo, the architect of City’s meltdown here two years ago, have more of a licence to roam.
• https://www.thetimes.com/article/brahim-the-real-madrid-star-nurtured-by-pep-guardiola-gmbwd7lzz Jude Bellingham arrival has obscured impact of Brahim Díaz – the Real star nurtured by Guardiola
That Bellingham has 20 goals and ten assists in 32 matches shows that the tactical shift has worked.
“Jude knows when to arrive in the box at the right time,” Ancelotti said. “This is why he has scored a lot of goals. He has the possibility to score because, physically, he’s really strong.
“He’s doing a lot [up] front with his mobility to create space and opportunity for us. This season we don’t have a clear reference as a central striker. We’ve managed this absence with more mobility. And Jude is helping us a lot on the defensive aspect.”
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The last sentence here is key. At the Etihad last season, Real’s press was non-existent. Benzema, Toni Kroos and Luka Modric all looked their age as City encountered no trouble moving the ball quickly from back to front.
As Ancelotti spoke at his pre-match press conference on Monday, good news came his way from Manchester. Kyle Walker, who put up an incredible fight against Vinícius last season, and Nathan Aké were ruled out through injury.
Josko Gvardiol missed training but later travelled to Spain. City’s selection troubles did not seem to affect Ancelotti, who admitted to being “nervous” before his 200th Champions League match.
“But that is what makes you alive — the pressure, the stress,” he added. “It is like fuel for me.”
Ancelotti told his players that they must throw themselves into Tuesday’s match even though four of them (Bellingham, Eduardo Camavinga, Vinícius and Tchouameni) are one yellow card away from a one-match suspension.
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Ancelotti has learnt one lesson from last season. Rüdiger, one of Real’s most effective players in last year’s first leg, was left on the bench for the return game at the Etihad.
He will start on Tuesday and is hoping to keep Erling Haaland at bay. “We all did a great job by keeping Haaland quiet that evening,” Rüdiger said. “I will take that duel as personal. It’s me as a defensive player against a super striker.”
Madrid want to play under closed roof
Real Madrid want to create a hostile atmosphere at the Bernabéu tonight by closing the roof for the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Manchester City.
The 14-times European champions want their newly renovated stadium to be as noisy as possible so they have asked Uefa for permission to close their new retractable roof.
City are aware of Real’s request but are unable to have any influence on the final decision, which will be taken by Uefa in a meeting in Madrid at 9.30am today.
François Letexier, the French referee who will oversee the match, will also be consulted by European football’s governing body before a decision is made.
Uefa granted Real’s request to close the roof for the home leg of their last-16 tie against RB Leipzig last month. Locals say that the noise in the stadium has been far greater with the roof shut.
About 81,000 fans are expected to attend tonight’s match at the Bernabéu, where Real are yet to lose this season.
The £800 million renovation of Real’s historic stadium began in 2019. Their newly refurbished home includes a retractable pitch and a new wrap-around exterior.
In one of the most memorable nights in recent Champions League history, City hammered Real 4-0 in the second leg of last year’s semi-final at the Etihad Stadium.
The eventual Champions League winners had to settle for a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Spain, but Guardiola wants his team to go on the offensive.
“Everybody knows the strengths from transitions they have with Rodrygo, [Jude] Bellingham, [Federico] Valverde and Vinícius Júnior, but we cannot come here just to control the game,” Guardiola, the City manager, said. “We have to come here to try to hurt them, to punish them, to let them know we are here to score goals.”
Guardiola is without the injured Kyle Walker and Nathan Aké, but Josko Gvardiol, who came off during Saturday’s win over Crystal Palace, has travelled and could start.
“It’s true that the best player to control a player like Vinícius is Kyle,” Guardiola said of Walker, who enjoyed an intense battle against the winger last year.
“Unfortunately, he was injured in a friendly game [for England].” Guardiola is wary of the danger posed by Bellingham. “He’s done an incredible season in terms of goals, assists, and his presence in the box . . . not just with Real Madrid but with the England national team too,” he said.
Quarter-final first legs
Tuesday, 8pm
Arsenal v Bayern Munich
Real Madrid v Manchester City
Wednesday, 8pm
Atletico Madrid v Borussia Dortmund
Paris Saint-Germain v Barcelona
