According to reports, Jude Bellingham was unwell leading up to Real Madrid’s crucial Champions League semifinal matchup with Bayern Munich on Tuesday. The opening leg between the two European heavyweights ended in an intriguing 2-2 tie in Germany, but the young Englishman was rather quiet during the game.
Vinicius Junior scored the first goal by slipping the ball past Manuel Neuer after latching onto a wonderful feed from Toni Kroos. After Lucas Vazquez tripped Jamal Musiala within the 18-yard box, the tie was turned around by an incredible start to the second half that saw Leroy Sane smash a low effort into the net and Harry Kane convert a penalty kick. The away team had appeared to be in control of the match.
With a penalty of their own, the visitors salvaged a draw. Vinicius Junior defeated Neuer once more to send the match into a second leg with no points separated between the two sides. Carlo Ancelotti’s team battled heroically to deny the opponent possession of the ball for the entire first forty-five minutes, but in the second half, Los Blancos faltered a little bit.
Bellingham’s poor performance early in the game might have contributed to the away team’s gradual loss of the midfield battle. After playing for 75 minutes, the 20-year-old was replaced, and WhoScored assigned him a rating of just 6.69 for the match. Bellingham was still involved even if he didn’t provide much offensively; just three of his teammates had more touches of the ball than he did (61).
Guillermo Rai, The Athletic’s Real Madrid correspondent, claims that Bellingham’s illness prevented him from performing at his customary high level. Depending on how well his club and national teams do in the upcoming months, the England international—who has been among the greatest players of the 2023–24 campaign—may even be in the race for the Ballon d’Or.
But Rai explained on X (previously Twitter) that the Real Madrid star had neglected to train before the greatest match of his fledgling career. Bellingham had a virus last week, but despite this, he still took the effort to travel to Donosti, according to him. This tie could have ended much sooner if he had the strength and conditioning.”
When the Bundesliga team travels to the Santiago Bernabeu for the second leg of the tie, the Spanish powerhouses will be hoping that their season-long acquisition will be healthy and prepared to play. If the German team defeats Paris Saint-Germain in the other semifinal, a championship matchup with his old team, Borussia Dortmund, may be in store.
