I Saw What Jude Bellingham Did Before and During the Real Madrid Clash to Show How He Feels About Man City

Manchester City are out of the Champions League after a heartbreaking penalty shootout against Real Madrid in their epic quarter-final.

Real had taken the lead early on, beating the offside trap and converting through Rodrygo at the second attempt. It would take an hour of patient play, a slow build-up and slowly eliminating chances until City drew level. Jack Grealish had been brilliant for over an hour and eyebrows were raised when he was replaced, but Jeremy Doku was an inspired introduction in his place.

Doku's cross was blocked, but only as far as De Bruyne, who fired into the roof of the net and sent the City fans wild. The Belgian missed two good chances before the ninety minutes were up, but extra time would follow to extend this fascinating draw. Penalties were needed to decide the tie, with Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic missing their spot-kicks to give Real a chance to go further - an opportunity they were not willing to miss after a heroic defensive effort from their side.

READ ALSO: Player Ratings vs Real READ ALSO: City haunted by forgotten enemy Here are the moments you might have missed after City's eventful Champions League exit: Bellingham's show of respect for City

On Tuesday, Jude Bellingham diplomatically dodged questions about his chances of joining City in the summer as he swapped Borussia Dortmund for Real Madrid. There was interest from the east of Manchester, but his heart always remained set on Madrid. Here he was, back in Manchester as an opponent, having scored here for Dortmund on his previous visit when Erling Haaland was his teammate.

After facing the media 24 hours earlier, Bellingham was the first Real Madrid player to take to the Etihad pitch before the match, wearing headphones, and receiving applause from the small number of away fans in attendance. Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand, on the pitch on expert duty, stopped and filmed Bellingham from a distance. He reacted like the autograph hunters on the field when Bellingham sent him a smile and a wave.

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A video of Bellingham admiring the Etihad for Dortmund went viral during his last visit, but more because of Haaland's enthusiastic reaction to the stadium. Bellingham showed respect by walking around the City badges printed on the floor at the mouth of the tunnel that day, and he repeated the act when he came out for a walk before the match. And indeed, when he emerged for warm-ups and whenever he passed the badges for the rest of the evening, Bellingham went all the way around if it meant avoiding the opponent's badge.

City may have missed Bellingham, but the England man clearly still has the utmost respect for the Blues - even though he sprinted across the entire Etihad pitch to lead the celebrations with the Real fans after they won the shootout.

Walker's protest at halftime

It looked like Federico Valverde and then Vinicius Jr. were sidelined ahead of Real Madrid's opener, but the returning Kyle Walker played both times. Walker couldn't cut out the cross to Rodrygo and could only watch him turn in his own rebound from the floor. The hand immediately went up for offside, but the assistant referee had received the decisions correctly in real time and the VAR officials did not have to draw lines to check this.

That didn't stop Walker from walking towards the assistant at half-time, who was operating from his right-back spot at the other end. Walker made his point about something he was not happy with, and since there were no other controversial decisions involving the defender and that particular referee, one can only assume that the goal was the point of contention. Walker made his position quite strongly as the players walked out at the break, with Walker eventually having to withdraw.

Perhaps the change of ends before the match would have changed things as the sides switched directions after the toss. Walker used that particular tactic at Anfield and at home against Newcastle and has not played since. So he could have tried to ensure that Real shot away from the fans in the second half. Or Real may have tried to upset City if Nacho won the toss. If it had been Walker's decision, it might have backfired.

Dias' telling reaction to De Bruyne's goal

There was equal parts relief and celebration when Kevin De Bruyne fired into the roof of the net with 15 minutes to go after an hour of pressure following Rodrygo's opener. De Bruyne himself had been poor by his own standards, but he is a different player in the box and gambled on Jeremy Doku's cross being cleared. That was true, De Bruyne was there and City were on level terms.

As the Etihad erupted and De Bruyne drove away, some of his teammates joined him in the corner with the Real Madrid fans. Then there was Ruben Dias, who told every teammate to come back, concentrate and go for another goal. Walker wore the armband that evening, vice-captain De Bruyne drew them level, but third man Dias provided the lead.

Just before the equalizer, as City looked for their goal, the fans started a rarely heard chant to motivate their team. "We are Man City, we will fight to the end," they sang. It's not something you hear about often in these parts as City don't often have to show their fighting spirit to chase a game as they are usually in control. But we can forget that they have a team full of fighters and that is why they are champions of Europe and the world.

Guardiola's revealing team talks on the pitch

The recent Netflix documentary sent us into City's dressing room, but Pep Guardiola had to keep his team talks on the pitch before and during extra time. That wouldn't have been much of a problem for the manager; he regularly gives advice to players after matches, regardless of whether the cameras are watching, and uses game breaks to call on players each week. So when City needed some inspiration after 90 minutes of toil, Guardiola seemed to focus on the collective rather than giving individual instructions.

Guardiola gathered his players into a huddle at the start of extra time and then at half-time and had a few short words for his players after a quick chat with his coaches. After 90 minutes he made the bold decision to replace Haaland - remarkable even if Haaland was kept quiet for two legs. Julian Alvarez came on and during half-time Haaland motivated his teammates.

There are only so many tactical changes that can be offered to a side in that scenario, so it seemed the meetings were intended to re-energize the players and encourage them for the challenge ahead. With the players and fans nervous from the start, Guardiola was generally the picture of calm (by his standards), with a number of level-headed substitutions changing the game and him clearly knowing what to say to his players.

Ultimately, City went out of the penalty lottery, and they will have to wait for another attempt in the Champions League.