Jude Bellingham’s yelling in the tunnel during halftime of Real Madrid’s 3-2 loss to Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final on Saturday night was captured on TV cameras. At the Estadio de La Cartuja in Seville, Jules Koundé’s goal in extra time gave La Blaugrana the victory. Although there were arguments at full time, there is evidence that tensions had been building since the beginning.
After hurling an ice cube at referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea, Antonio Rüdiger is now facing harsh penalty, but he wasn’t the only one who expressed his annoyance at the officials. De Burgos Bengoetxea sobbed during the officials’ pre-match press conference on Friday, making Los Blancos’ handling of the referees in Spain the main topic of discussion in the lead-up to the Copa del Rey final.
At one point, there were even rumours that the current Champions League and La Liga winners were thinking about skipping the weekend’s final because Carlo Ancelotti’s executives believed the referees were against them. This lingering hostility is further highlighted by Bellingham’s halftime response.
Jude Bellingham’s remarks during halftime in the tunnel
The Englishman didn’t like the officiating either.
Television cameras captured Bellingham tearing into De Burgos Bengoetxea and his team as they made their way down the tunnel for halftime. (Refer to the incident below.) He said:
“Make him understand, everything is going their [Barcelona’s] way, everything 50-50 goes their way.”
Ironically, Rudiger made an effort to soothe the 21-year-old. However, both players were at the heart of controversy by the time the final whistle blew. Bellingham was sent off soon after full time for acting aggressively towards the officials, while Rudiger is currently facing consequences for the aforementioned incident in which he threw ice towards the referee.
According to the Metro, the referee’s post-match report stated: “Player (22) Rüdiger, Antonio, was sent off in the 120th minute for the following reason: for hurling something that missed me from the technical area. Several coaching staff members had to detain him after he was shown the red card due to his violent demeanour.
“Player (17) Lucas Vazquez Iglesias was sent off in the 120th minute for the following reasons: He entered the field of play for a few meters, made gestures of dissatisfaction, and protested one of our judgements. Jude Victor William, player (5) Bellingham, was sent off in the 999th minute for the following reason: He attacked our position aggressively after the game ended and needed to be restrained by his teammates.”
Despite the commotion, it now seems Real Madrid will end the 2024–2025 season without any hardware to brag about. They might experience a similar disaster in La Liga after dropping to a four-point deficit with five games remaining after losing to Barcelona in the Copa del Rey and being ousted by Arsenal in the Champions League quarterfinal.
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