Jude Bellingham says Real Madrid showed immense character and resilience to win their UEFA Champions League quarter-final second-leg clash against Manchester City on Wednesday night at the Etihad Stadium.
The game went all the way into extra time after a 1-1 stalemate after 90 minutes, and Los Blancos got the job done eventually on penalties, winning 4-3 in the shootout after a 4-4 aggregate score.
Bellingham was crucial in the build-up to Madrid’s goal and also scored his penalty in the shootout to propel the Meringes to victory.
Speaking in a post-match interview, Bellingham said: “It was so difficult, because you know there are continuously probing with the ball. They attack you into positions that sometimes you don’t want to go you know but you have to go man for man otherwise they can punish you and they did for the goal.
“To be fair I think most teams at that point would apart when City get on top of you, the crowd gets going, but we stood up really well and got the reward and for another half an hour, 45 minutes we worked hard”.
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Real Madrid will now take on Bayern Munich in the semi-finals while PSG face Borussia Dortmund in the last four.
Madrid have not only knocked out the current holders of the Champions League, but they have also secured their 12th semi-final place in the last 14 seasons in the competition.
Looking up, Bellingham’s Madrid will take on Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday night, and avoiding defeat could see them on the path to another La Liga title with six matches to spare.