No matter what anybody tries to say, there can be no escaping the fact that Real Madrid were outclassed in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals by Bayern Munich. A 2-1 loss at the Santiago Bernabeu is a heavy blow, especially against a team widely viewed as the best in European football this season, coached down to the smallest dot of detail by Vincent Kompany.
But even in defeat, Real Madrid were not totally unimpressive. They did test the living legend Manuel Neuer repeatedly, as he had to make nine total saves in the Bavarians' victory, with the majority of them coming straight off the top shelf.
In the second half, Real Madrid finally turned up to play, and it is no coincidence that their best play came after Jude Bellingham entered the pitch. The uber talented England international has met his fair share of critics in his career, but they have been most vocal this season. But the only reason why Jude did not get the start from manager Alvaro Arbeloa was, ironically enough, due to his importance, as Jude is so vital to Real that Arbeloa would have rather risked a loss in leg one than risk aggravation and losing his best center midfielder for any more time.
Jude Bellingham is ready to start
Jude has not started a full game since returning recently from a tricky hamstring injury, but now Alvaro Arbeloa has confirmed to reporters at the pre game press conference before facing Girona on Friday night, via the Madrid Zone, that he will be ready to start for Los Merengues against the Catalan underdogs.
Girona can be a tough side for the top teams in Spain - not just their rivals Barcelona. Historically, Real Madrid have fared well against them, though, so the bigger picture with Jude's return from injury to a full start in the XI is the game on the horizon.
Real Madrid play Bayern Munich again next week on Wednesday night at the Allianz Arena - a familiar venue for the former Borussia Dortmund superstar center midfielder. Bellingham being back to start the full 90 minutes against Girona means the English icon will be ready for a full 90 against the Reds of Bayern, when the industry of Jude in the middle of the park will mean that much more. As we saw in just a few minutes against Bayern in the first leg, Bellingham is a great equalizer for Real Madrid.