Real Madrid in chaos before Arsenal second-leg with stars in bust-up, Mbappe red card shame and Modric busy buying club
REAL MADRID will need all hands on deck to complete an unbelievable Champions League turnaround against Arsenal on Wednesday.
However, the Spanish giants have been hit by internal chaos ahead of the crunch quarter-final tie.
The first leg at the Emirates saw the 15-time European champions fall 3-0 behind after a second half blitz by the Gunners led by two outrageous free-kicks from Declan Rice.
Carlo Ancelotti called for calm ahead of the reverse leg at the Bernabeu, but it seems the message has not trickled down to his distracted multi-million pound stars.
Los Blancos returned to winning ways on Sunday with a 1-0 win at Alaves, despite Kylian Mbappe being sent off for a horror tackle when he went diving in with his studs raised and caught Antonio Blanco high on his shin.
Training before the game was equally chaotic for Ancelotti’s squad.
Reports in Spain claim Jude Bellingham and Antonio Rudiger had to be separated in a training ground bust-up on Friday.
El Chiringuito claims that former Chelsea star Rudiger clattered Bellingham with a rough challenge during a training game.
This prompted the England international to bite back with a scathing insult, which subsequently sparked a clash between the pair as team-mates were forced to intervene to separate them.
Despite the confrontation, Bellingham and Rudiger are said to have resolved the matter quickly.
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Meanwhile, news has emerged that veteran midfielder Luka Modric is set to become a minority shareholder in Championship club Swansea.
A deal has reportedly been agreed that sees the 39-year-old legend acquire a stake in the Welsh club.
The amount of the Swans he is buying and the cost of the investment is currently unclear with Modric set to join Andy Coleman, Brett Cravatt, Nigel Morris and Jason Cohen as part-owners of Swansea.
The move will not impact his ongoing playing career and he is not ready to hang up his boots just yet.
But buying into a football club is likely to have been a distraction.
On top of all of this, Madrid have also been rocked by news that defender Ferland Mendy is definitely out of the tie.
The left-back suffered a hamstring injury before the first leg, and it has now been reported by AS there is no chance of him making a sudden comeback.
That adds on to the already absent Eduardo Camavinga after he was sent off at the end of the game at the Emirates.
There are also fitness doubts surrounding Federico Valverde and David Alaba, while Dani Ceballos is almost certainly out against his former club.
The one boost Real can count on is the return of Aurelien Tchouameni from suspension.
Speaking about the clash, Ancelotti referenced previous times huge deficits have been turned over in the Champions League, with the term “remontada” being born after Barcelona overturned a 4-0 first-leg defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in 2017.
He said: “Remontada? We will try.
“It happened many times.
“We will try until the last minute.”
Arsenal ratings vs Real Madrid as Declan Rice's free-kick thunderbolts earn him an ELEVEN out of 10
BEND it like Beckham? More like bend it like Declan…
It was a set-piece clinic from the Arsenal midfielder as he scored the first free-kicks of his career against Real Madrid – and the first player in Champions League history to score multiple direct free-kicks in the same knockout stage game.
Thibaut Courtois was on hand to save Real Madrid in a fast paced first half as he pulled off a fine double save to deny a Rice header and a follow-up effort from Gabriel Martinelli.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 58th minute as England star Rice whipped in a sensational free-kick.
Rice then sent the Emirates into the stratosphere with as he added a second with an even better free-kick from the left side of the goal which he rifled into the top right corner.
Mikel Merino then swept a devastating third into the bottom corner from a low cross to put the cherry on a remarkable night.
Rice’s epic showing was enough to earn him an unprecedented ELEVEN in our player ratings.
Here’s how SunSport’s Jordan Davies rated the rest of the Gunners…