“One place where crazy things happen is our house”.
That was Jude Bellingham’s warning to Arsenal’s players after his Real Madrid team were beaten 3-0 by the Gunners in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final.
The two sides face each other in the second leg on Wednesday, 16 April at Real’s Santiago Bernabeu.
Madrid’s loss on Tuesday was the club’s joint-heaviest defeat in a Champions League knockout match and after the full-time whistle Bellingham said his side were “nowhere near it”.
Even so, the England midfielder believes Real are “still alive” in the Champions League – a competition where they have a history of dramatic comebacks.
Last season they were minutes away from losing their semi-final tie with Bayern Munich before turning things around with two late goals at the Bernabeu.
Three seasons ago they needed last-gasp goals at home to Chelsea and Manchester City to help them stay in the Champions League.
In both of those campaigns, Carlo Ancelotti’s side went on to win the competition.
“We need something really special, something crazy really,” Bellingham told Amazon Prime.
“We’ve got 90 minutes of football and anything can happen at the Bernabeu.”
