Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham would’ve most probably avoided seeing red at the weekend had he heeded to Cristiano Ronaldo’s warning back in 2018.
Bellingham was shown a straight red card in their 1-1 draw against Osasuna by referee Jose Luis Munuera Montero for apparent foul and abusive language.
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This gave Los Blancos a setback in their La Liga title defense as they now only trail second-placed Atletico Madrid by a single point, who themselves played to a 1-1 draw against Celta Vigo, but could see themselves level on points with Barcelona who host Vallecano later this evening.
In his account, Bellingham was adamant that he had said: “F* off”, and that it was aimed at himself in frustration, rather than at the match official who he believes misconstrued that by telling him: “F* you”.
“I didn’t say anything bad to the referee. It’s clear that there was a communication error,” the former Borussia Dortmund man said.
“It’s an expression like the Spanish one “j***r”… and the consequence is that he left us with one less player.
“It’s not an insult; it was an expression for myself.”
According to Daily Mail, during an interview with La Sexta in 2018, ‘CR7’ commented that “f*** off” was often ignored by English officials but that it would get you in trouble in Spanish football.
“I played in England for many years. For example, when there is a foul, the English say a lot of “f*** off” and the referees don’t say anything. But if you say it here [Spain] they send you out,” Ronaldo said at the time.
Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti on the other hand refused to comment on the referee’s decision, saying: “I think the referee did not understand Jude Bellingham’s English. He said “f* off”, not “f* you”… that’s way different.
“I won’t talk more about the referee as I want to be on the bench next week,” he said after the match.”
