“Remontada…[comeback] I’ve heard it about a million times this week, I’ve seen a million videos online.”
Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham was responding to a leading question from a Spanish journalist before Wednesday’s Champions League quarter-final second leg against Arsenal when he said that ‘Remontada’ was “the most-used word in the dressing room in the last days”.
If it was a question designed to allow Bellingham to fuel the narrative and hype building in Madrid despite last week’s 3-0 first leg defeat, it certainly worked.
The 15-time champions of Europe Real Madrid have a reputation for doing the impossible in recent Champions League campaigns.
Declan Rice’s sensational free-kick double and Mikel Merino’s curled strike mean Madrid must overcome a three-goal deficit to progress at the Bernabeu.
“There’s not a lot you can do for Real Madrid in the Champions League that hasn’t already been done,” Bellingham, 21, added.
“Tomorrow is an opportunity for us to do something for the first time and that’s really important to us.
“It’s a weird environment these last few days. One of the worst results we could possibly imagine away and for some reason everyone thinks it’s nailed on that we’ll come back.
“There’s a lot of trust in the talent. There’s an expectation from Real Madrid that when we get into these kind of holes we can come back, even if it’s a really tough one, a really difficult one.
“Just because the club has done it so many times, that’s what’s so impressive about the size of this club, and the expectations are obviously huge.”
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti, who has won the competition five times as a manager, said he was “focused, with a very cool head”.
“It’s not my first night like this and I hope it will not be the last,” he said.
