Jude Bellingham breaks silence after Real Madrid’s humbling Champions League defeat by Arsenal – following on-field clashes with Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka

Jude Bellingham has spoken out on Instagram after Real Madrid crashed out of the Champions League at the hands of Arsenal on Wednesday night.

Despite losing last week’s first leg 3-0 at the Emirates, Bellingham and his Real team-mates were confident of pulling off a ‘Remontada’ heading into last night’s return match but they came up well short of overturning the deficit.

After missing a first-half penalty, Bukayo Saka put Arsenal ahead on the night before Vinicius Jr pulled a goal back after a William Saliba mistake.

Real rarely threatened to get back into the tie, though, and Gabriel Martinelli sealed Arsenal’s 2-1 Bernabeu win in added time to wrap up a 5-1 aggregate triumph for the Gunners.

Having had a night’s sleep to reflect on the disappointing result, Bellingham has now taken to social media to apologise to Real’s fans, but promised his team will come back better than ever.

‘Simply didn’t live up to the expectations of this club in either of the games. Sorry Madridistas,’ Bellingham’s message began.

‘We understand how much these nights and this competition means to you. There’s still opportunities to save this season but it’s only possible by staying together. Real Madrid will be back!’

Bellingham struggled to have a positive impact on Wednesday’s game and cut a frustrated figure for long periods.

His emotions threatened to spill over on a couple of occasions as he clashed with two of his England team-mates.

The 21-year-old midfielder was seen muttering in Bukayo Saka’s ear to put him off when Arsenal were awarded an early penalty.

Bellingham’s gamesmanship appeared to work as Saka scuffed his spot-kick and it was pushed wide by Thibaut Courtois.

However, the Arsenal winger had the last laugh as he did find the net in the second half after latching on to Mikel Merino’s through ball.

Bellingham also tangled with Declan Rice by the touchline during a tense first half, with the England pair briefly squaring up to each other.

Bellingham showed he wasn’t willing to go out without a fight, but he was ultimately overshadowed by Rice who picked up the player of the match award for the second straight week.

Bellingham and Real will now turn their attention to La Liga and the Copa del Rey. They currently find themselves four points behind Barcelona with seven games to play, while they will also face their arch-rivals in the Spanish Cup final next weekend.

Real will then get the chance to earn more silverware over the summer when they compete in the newly-expanded Club World Cup.

They may not be led by Carlo Ancelotti into that tournament, though, following reports that the Italian coach could leave Real following the Copa del Rey final later this month after a disappointing Champions League campaign.