Classy Jude Bellingham in rarely-seen gesture to rival manager after Real Madrid’s Champions League win over RB Leipzig
JUDE BELLINGHAM was involved in a rarely-seen gesture at the end of Real Madrid’s 1-1 draw with RB Leipzig yesterday.
The draw was enough to see Madrid through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League after they won the first leg 1-0.
After the final whistle, Bellingham ran over to RB Leipzig manager Marco Rose.
They exchanged a hug before Bellingham gave the manager his jersey as a memento from the match.
The two worked together during Bellingham’s time at Dortmund, with Rose leaving the club in 2022.
The midfielder followed Rose out the Dortmund exit door a year later when he moved to Real Madrid for £115million last summer.
Fans on X responded generally positively to the gesture, with a Dortmund fan writing: “Jude first started developing his overall game thanks to Marco Rose. Gave him the freedom that got the best out of him on the pitch. Miss both these guys”
Another wrote: “What Bellingham did with his old coach is like a bromance!”
A third posted: “I like the bond between them both.”
While a fourth said: “Memories.”
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Rose’s team ran Madrid close despite being unfancied at the Bernabeu.
After acquitting themselves well in the first leg and losing narrowly, Leipzig created the majority of the chances during the game in Spain.
But it was Madrid who opened the scoring through Vinicius in the 65th minute against the run of play.
Leipzig equalised in the 68th minute through Willi Orban but were unable to find a second that would have taken the game to extra-time.