Jude Bellingham said his Real Madrid team has the ability to change their mentality for big games, as they edged past city rivals Atlético Madrid on penalties to reach the Champions League quarterfinals on Wednesday.
Carlo Ancelotti’s team was not at their best and lost 1-0 after extra time to leave the tie 2-2 on aggregate. But once again the holders found a way to progress and stay on course to lift the European Cup for a record-extending 16th time.
England international Bellingham netted one of Real’s four successful penalties in the shootout as they set up a last-eight clash against Premier League side Arsenal.
“That’s sometimes what it takes, those moments of composure and poise. It’s not always the mad quality that you see from us,” Bellingham said after the match. “There is a change of mentality when we come into these games, we know that there’s a certain way of winning games.
“We’re very good at that. We understand game situations really well, and tonight was another example.”
Real had turned on the style to beat Manchester City in their playoff clash to reach the knockout phase, beating the Premier League champions 6-3 on aggregate.
Against Atlético, in the raucous home of their rivals, they were stunned inside a minute as Conor Gallagher scored for the hosts to level the tie on aggregate.
But Carlo Ancelotti’s side dug in their heels as the game drifted through normal time and extra time with Atlético unable to capitalize on their flying start.
They then got a huge slice of luck as Julián Álvarez scored Atlético’s second penalty only to have his effort ruled out because he had slipped and inadvertently kicked the ball twice.
Although Atlético goalkeeper Jan Oblak saved Lucas Vázquez‘s attempt, a miss by Marcos Llorente allowed Antonio Rüdiger to squeeze his decisive penalty past Oblak to spark scenes of joy amongst the Real players and supporters.
“Really happy. It’s a huge game for us to win,” Bellingham said. “It’s massive for us, so important for us to get through at this stage. It will mean a lot to the fans because of who we were playing against.”
Information from Reuters was used in this story.
