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Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham received a straight red card from the referee Jose Luis Munuera Montero after conceding a foul and got caught swearing in front of him during his team’s 1-1 draw in La Liga against Osasuna at the Estadio El Sadar. After Real Madrid had taken an early lead, the Jude Bellingham incident happened in the latter stages of the first half as he lost his cool during one of the toughest away trips in the competition for the Galacticos.
Notably, Kylian Mbappe, who recently was confirmed to make a return to the French football team, gave Real Madrid the 1-0 advantage in the 15th minute after he fired home the inch-perfect cross from Federico Valverde into the back of the net. With the 17th goal in La Liga this season, the Frenchman is currently in red hot form for the Galacticos, and his presence could bolster France immensely in the UEFA Nations League this year.
In the 39th minute, with Real Madrid in control of the game, Jude Bellingham’s temper got the best of him as the referee sent him off for a foul and abusive language in front of him, giving a lifeline to the hosts. Osasuna capitalised on the situation in the 58th minute after Eduardo Camavinga was determined to have fouled Ante Budimir in the box, who converted the subsequent penalty, to make the scoreline 1-1, which his team managed to hold onto.
Watch the video here:
There was no intent to insult referee, there was no insult: Jude Bellingham
In the post-match interview, Jude Bellingham stated that there was no intention from him to insult the referee, and he called it a misunderstanding while stating the evidence. He was quoted as saying, as per BBC Sport, “It's difficult when a referee isn't sure, to determine that I've said something that I haven't, and as a result it kind of hinders the team. I think you can see clearly in the video... I remember the incident very well, it was an expression to myself.”
“I'm not even directing myself towards the referee, but obviously there was a misunderstanding. He's believed that I've said [something insulting] to him. There was no intent to insult him, there was no insult, and for that reason I think you can see there was a misunderstanding,” he added.
Moreover, Carlo Ancelotti, the Real Madrid manager, in the post-match press conference, stated that the referee wasn’t able to understand what Jude Bellingham had said to him because of the language gap. He remarked, “I think with [Jude] Bellingham's red card [the referee] didn't understand the English well. I don't think it's something offensive.”
