Aside from Madrid's victory against relegation-threatened Deportivo Alaves over the weekend, Los Blancos boss Carlo Ancelotti would have had his mind focused on his side's second-leg Champions League quarter-final tie against Arsenal at the Bernabeu.
One thing he wouldn't have wanted when approaching the crucial European match-up is any internal team issues, but that is reportedly exactly what he has gotten as Bellingham and Rudiger were said to have been separated following a training ground quarrel between the two players.
The Spanish giants will need to be well connected if they want to have a chance to overturn Arsenal’s 3-0 first-leg lead from The Emirates. Bellingham has since responded to the allegations ahead of tonight's Champions League fixture.
"It's football, it's normal on the pitch that emotions get high," Bellingham told reporters. "You communicate with teammates louder than you'd communicate with your mum and dad.
"For every negative interaction you see, there's 20 positive interactions. That will get lost in the media which is fine, as long as the team respects each other to have those honest conversations."
The incident, which Spanish media outlet El Chiringuito reported, happened before their La Liga fixture at the weekend against Deportivo, when a tackle by the former Chelsea defender on the England international led to an altercation. The small-sided training game had to be called off early to separate the pair.
It is no surprise that tensions are running high in the Madrid camp. Their star-studded line-up, with the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior up front, were unable to cause any damage in north London for the first-leg.
Madrid will need to score at least three goals to take it to extra time, and they'll need a fourth to beat an Arsenal team who haven't lost since February.
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