Powered by Roundtable

After the win against RCD Espanyol on Sunday evening, Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham appeared to have a dig at his team mate, Kylian Mbappe

On Sunday evening, Real Madrid recorded a 2-0 win over RCD Espanyol in La Liga to ensure that the title race is alive and well for at least one more game week. 

This does mean that Barcelona have a chance to win the league against Los Blancos, which is pretty bitter in itself, but at least it means there will be no debate over a guard of honour for the Catalan side. Plus, it does give the team the chance to beat their great rivals and once again delay the inevitable trophy lift. 

Truth be told, it was not the best performance, particularly not in the first half. But after the break, Real Madrid played with a bit more freedom, and Vinicius scored a brace to secure the three points. 

With the second goal, we saw the Brazilian link up with Jude Bellingham as if it was 23/24 all over again. Some people have attributed this to the fact that Kylian Mbappe was missing the game through injury. 

Yesterday, there were reports that the dressing room were unhappy with the Frenchman's unprofessionalism, particularly his decision to go on holiday to Italy before the season has even ended. He landed back in Madrid during the game last night. 

Well, there is an interesting follow up to that report. Indeed, as after the game, Bellingham uploaded a photo of the starting XI together before kick off, which is not something he does very often. 

So, fans are putting two and two together, and suggesting this is because Mbappe was not in the starting XI. Now, at first, you instinctively think: that's a bit of a stretch. But perhaps there is an element of truth to it? 

If, and we don't know if this will be the case, Real Madrid's number ten misses El Clasico this weekend, then it will be very interesting to see how the team does in his absence. 

To date, Mbappe has a pretty good record in Clasico's, but the team have been on the wrong end of the result a few times in that period. That said, he did score in a 2-1 win during the reverse fixture, a game where Bellingham scored and assisted himself. 

Safe to say, the Englishman was close to his usual levels yesterday. Some are again pointing to the lack of Mbappe for this, but he had been getting back to his best even with the 27-year old in the team, so that does feel a little unfair. 

Join the Community

Don't miss out on our ROUNDTABLE community and the latest news!

It's completely free to join. Share your thoughts, engage with our Roundtable writers, and chat with fellow members.

Download the free Roundtable APP, and stay even more connected!