There’s no doubt that Jude Bellingham has been Real Madrid’s main man this season. The 20-year-old has 16 goals since arriving from Borussia Dortmund, although he was unable to add to that tally on Tuesday as Los Blancos ended their Champions League group stage campaign with a 3-2 victory over Union Berlin.
However, he did pick up a yellow card – which is his second of the season in the competition, having also accumulated once in the victory over Napoli in October. As per Marca, it means that he is one more booking away from a suspension.
Bellingham will go into Real Madrid’s last 16 tie with the threat of suspension hanging over his head. If he is shown a yellow card in the first leg, he would miss the second leg. The same would also apply in the quarter-finals, as yellow cards are not wiped out in the Champions League until the semi-final stage.
It means that Bellingham will need to be on his best behaviour in Real Madrid’s next Champions League matches. They cannot afford to be without him for any of these crucial match-ups, although the blow would be softened as Vinicius Junior is in line to be back from injury by February.