Why isn’t Jude Bellingham playing for Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid tonight? | Football

Jude Bellingham will not be playing for Real Madrid against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League as he is serving a suspension.

The huge Madrid derby comes at the last 16 of this season’s Champions League after Real knocked Manchester City out in the knockout play-off round.

Atletico had a much better group stage than their local rivals, finishing fifth, which meant they progressed straight into the last 16.

The first leg between the Spanish giants is at the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday night, before Atletico host Real on 12 March.

Bellingham will not be playing the first match, though, because he has picked up enough yellow cards to earn himself a ban.

Three bookings is enough to earn a player a ban in the Champions League and Bellingham picked up his third in the second leg against Manchester City for a foul on Phil Foden.

It is just a one-match ban for picking up three bookings over the competition so far, with the 21-year-old able to return for the second leg.

Yellow cards are cleared after the quarter-finals of the Champions League, so any player on two bookings as they head into the last eight will get a clean slate.

Real Madrid have a number of players who could still receive a ban before that point as they are currently on two yellow cards.

Eduardo Camavinga, Luka Modric, Aurélien Tchouaméni, and Endrick have all picked up two bookings so far and another on Tuesday would see them miss the away leg.

Speaking of his plan for the home tie without Bellingham, Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti said: ‘I don’t think it’s going to change the way we play. I don’t think it’s going to change much.

‘We have to keep in mind that the players who have rested could have the opportunity tomorrow: Asencio, Camavinga… We have to look at these kinds of things and nothing more.

‘We’re not going to reinforce the midfield or take off a striker. We have to keep the same idea.’

Bellingham has also been banned in La Liga after he was shown a red card against Osasuna last month for foul language.

The midfielder was hit with a two-match ban, but said: ‘He believed that I 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.’

Having missed the 2-0 La Liga win over Girona and 2-1 defeat to Real Betis, Bellingham posted on an Instagram story from a gym: ‘Weekends without a game. Lesson learnt!’

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