Revealed: The moment that sparked heated row between England team-mates Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice in Arsenal's Champions League triumph over Real Madrid
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England team-mates Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice were involved in a heated confrontation during Arsenal's Champions League win over Real Madrid on Wednesday night.
Rice had been the star of the show in last week's first leg, scoring two stunning free-kicks to hand Arsenal a 3-0 win and put them in complete control of the quarter-final tie heading into the return match at the Bernabeu.
He won his head-to-head battle against Bellingham at the Emirates, and got the better of the Real Madrid star again in Spain. But Bellingham refused to go down without a fight, and the pair were seen squaring up to each other in the first half as they jostled for the ball near the halfway line.
However, it was actually an incident inside the opening three minutes that appeared to upset Bellingham, as he was knocked to the floor by Rice on the edge of the box, who regained possession while the referee waved play on.
Bellingham appeared stunned at losing his first physical battle with Rice, and that set the tone for the rest of the match as he cut a frustrated figure for long periods.
The subsequent spat between the pair seemed to link back to that early challenge, and neither man took a backwards step as their team-mates had to quickly jump in to prevent the situation escalating.
Jude Bellingham wanted a free-kick after being knocked to the ground by Declan Rice early on
The pair then clashed once more near the halfway line later in the first half
The two England players squared up to each other after tension had been simmering between them from the opening minutes of the game
It was not the only moment of tension between players either, as injured Real star Dani Carvajal grabbed Bukayo Saka at half time and had some choice words for the winger following his first-half penalty miss.
Rice and Saka were able to put the rows behind them, though, as they both delivered standout displays to take Arsenal through to the semi-finals with something to spare.
For the second week on the trot, Rice was handed the player of the match award following an all-action performance as he broke up Real attacks and consistently got Arsenal up the pitch.
Meanwhile, Saka recovered from his early penalty howler to put Arsenal in front on the night with a clever dinked finish over Thibaut Courtois.
Real got a goal back through Vinicius Jr after William Saliba's mistake, but Gabriel Martinelli wrapped up a memorable Bernabeu win in added time to secure a 5-1 aggregate victory for Mikel Arteta's men.
Rice and Co. now have a semi-final against PSG to look forward to, but they will be without Thomas Partey for the first leg after he picked up a late booking at the Bernabeu.
Rice was furious with his team-mate for getting involved after Antonio Rudiger fouled Mikel Merino, and was seen grabbing Partey and ranting at him for failing to keep his cool.
But he could be proud of his own performance after overshadowing Bellingham again, and their confrontation was a perfect example of how Arsenal refused to be bullied by the Spanish giants in one of the most hostile atmospheres in European football.
Daily Mail
