RB Leipzig coach Marco Rose does not yet believe that Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham will miss the first leg of the Champions League round of 16. “I’ll only believe he’s out if he’s not in the stadium tomorrow. I know Jude, he will do everything to play the Champions League game. And if he’s still looking for a doctor here so he can get fit,” Rose said on Monday during a press conference about his former BVB player from their time together in Dortmund.
Bellingham sprained his ankle during Real’s 4-0 win against Girona FC last Saturday. An appearance in the premier class this Tuesday (9 p.m./Prime Video) is reportedly on the brink.
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Rose herself is worried about Amadou Haidara’s duel with Los Blancos. The defensive midfielder was ruled out in Augsburg after struggling with minor knee problems from the Africa Cup of Nations. “Doudou has increased his training load. He really wants to be there. We’ll wait for the final training,” said Rose, who also said that being an outsider had never been something for him. “But I don’t see us as favorites for the Champions League title. I would see that as very presumptuous,” said Rose.
RB won the last meeting between the two clubs in Leipzig 3-2. However, the then defending champions Real qualified early for the round of 16 in September 2022. This time it’s a knockout game. “If you’ve done it once, you know you can do it again. It was his very energetic performance from us back then. We want to play with such emotion and intensity again and achieve a good result,” said RB goalkeeper Péter Gulácsi.
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