Half-time was approaching in extra time when Jude Bellingham, sensing danger and tearing back at full pelt, slid in to dispossess Marcos Llorente and snuff out a Atletico Madrid counter attack.
The tackle was clean and the threat averted, but the Englishman was not done. Twice he furiously thumped the turf before springing to his feet and directing his rage at the team-mate whom he felt had let the side down. Vinicius Junior, further up the touchline, had been bypassed too easily, his work-rate lacking.
He was still picking himself up, too, and avoided making eye contact with Bellingham. But he would have heard his livid complaints.
This was Bellingham’s personality laid bare. The 21-year-old already represents the indomitable spirit of Real Madrid, a leader less than two seasons into his time at the club. A player who sets the standard and helped his team negotiate passage through their difficult Champions League last-16 tie against city rivals and, having triumphed 4-2 in a controversial penalty shootout, into a quarter-final against Arsenal.
It says everything about his influence at this club that seeing him berate a team-mate at a perceived lack of effort during Wednesday’s tense 1-0 second-leg defeat at the Metropolitano did not constitute a surprise.
Bellingham urges his team-mates to raise their game as Vinicius looks on (Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images)
The build up had all been about Kylian Mbappe.
The striker had suffered discomfort from a kick to his ankle sustained during the weekend win over Rayo Vallecano, the club said, but ended up being named in the starting lineup at Atletico. Yet the Frenchman was not the only player to have suffered physically on Sunday.
Bellingham picked up a knock of his own, to his thigh. That’s not to mention the persistent shoulder problem he has been carrying since last season and for which he still wears special protection in each game.
The midfielder had been off the pace against Rayo after a three-game absence through suspension. The hangover lingered into the Atletico derby. Like his team-mates, he started slowly and watched his compatriot, Conor Gallagher, force the hosts ahead inside the opening minute. Bellingham, like Real, laboured.
Where was his attacking threat? He struggled to fire away a shot on goal, or to create an opportunity for a team-mate. Four minutes before half-time, as a high cross was flung into the Atletico box, he had his first proper glimpse at goal only to become tangled with team-mate Aurelien Tchouameni as they competed for the same ball in the air.
The chance went begging leaving the Madrid players bickering, the tension obvious with the tie all square.
That miscommunication rather summed it all up. Team-mates were struggling to link up effectively, their approach play rarely clicking. Vinicius spooned a critical penalty high and wide, prompting Bellingham to console him, but nothing was functioning correctly. When play was stopped 11 minutes from time and the visitors sought to make a change, the England midfielder must have wondered whether his time was up.
Bellingham consoles Vinicius Junior after his missed penalty (Manu Reino/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)
Instead, Carlo Ancelotti chose to bring Brahim Diaz on for Rodrygo. And, with his team at their lowest ebb, Bellingham finally stepped up.
He was the one gesturing them to up the speed of their ball circulation as the match drifted towards extra time. He was the one diving into tackles and clearances — he summoned three of each — and winning a flurry of ground duels (10 of 14). He was the one the Madrid staff believe lifted his level, physically, most obviously in the extra half-hour. Where Atletico started to wilt, Bellingham began to dominate.
By the end he had completed 84 passes (a 92 per cent success rate), pinged off six or his eight long passes successfully, and was stamping his authority all over the pitch. He mustered those classic driving runs, holding the ball as opponents dived in, and forced the visitors into enemy territory with the tie on a knife edge.
Such late revivals are nothing new. In the first leg of the play-off tie with Manchester City, Bellingham had scored his side’s critical third goal at the Etihad stadium to secure that recent 3-2 victory. Since arriving at the Bernabeu, he has made a habit of plundering in added time.
This time, though, it was his leadership on the pitch that was key — as epitomised by that scolding of Vinicius Jnr.
Bellingham makes his displeasure clear to Vinicius Jnr (Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Bellingham’s Spanish may not yet be fluent, but his status in the dressing room is established.
He has the respect and admiration of his team-mates, from whom he demands so much out on the pitch. Veterans may have departed this club since the end of last season — Nacho Fernandez, Toni Kroos and Joselu — but he is a leader-in-waiting. A player already stepping up.
He emulated Cristiano Ronaldo in the penalty shootout against Atletico, exchanging words with Jan Oblak, then composing himself before thumping his shot emphatically into the corner as the goalkeeper flew the other way. The conversion oozed confidence. He was never going to miss.
With the victory secured, he joined his team-mates to celebrate in front of the stadium’s north stand at the top of which more than 3,500 Madrid fans were in raucous mood. Some Atletico fans in the lower sections of the stand started throwing things at them, but Bellingham hardly he cared. He nonchalantly nodded one of the plastic cups away, surprising Brahim Diaz in the process. The midfielder then sought out his parents, Mark and Denise, who were accompanied by private security.
“I was a bit worried about my dad coming because of the hostile environment, but the club managed to help them,” he told TNT Sports after the game. “No matter how old you are, it’s always nice to see your mum and dad in the stands.
“Sometimes that’s what it takes. Sometimes it’s not quality, it’s just poise and composure, and that mentality of knowing that there’s a certain way to win games, and we’re very good at that. We understand situations very well and how to overcome them.”
Nights like this were made for Bellingham. He and Real Madrid seem the perfect fit.
(Top photo: Alvaro Medranda Quality Sport Images/Getty Images)
