Jude Bellingham, the English midfielder for Real Madrid, made it clear this Tuesday that the team fully believes in turning things around against Arsenal, after their tough 3–0 loss in London. According to him, the word “comeback” has become the most used one in the dressing room over the past few days.

Motivation coming from everywhere

“Comeback is the word we keep saying in the dressing room. I’ve watched a million motivational videos. This is the kind of night made for Real Madrid,” said Bellingham during the press conference ahead of their Champions League quarterfinal second leg at Ciudad Real Madrid. He even mentioned that Emilio Butragueño spoke to them about the legendary 6–1 win over Anderlecht, and that he’s been fired up by TikTok videos: “I want to be part of that, to add more history to this club.”

Bellingham admitted the comeback mindset kicked in right after the final whistle in London. “Honestly, it’s hard right after the game because you start breaking down what went wrong, but the idea of a comeback spread through the dressing room. On the bus ride home, we already believed we could stay in the competition,” he said.

Bernabéu energy will push them

The England international praised the Santiago Bernabéu crowd, calling them the team’s “12th man.” “We played badly in London and we know we can do way better. We’re still alive. The club’s history and the fans drive us — they’ll give everything on a magical Champions League night. We need to raise our focus and belief,” he added.

Confident the team will step up, Bellingham promised full commitment: “You can’t go into a game like this without being 100% locked in. Our only motivation is the comeback. We’ve got to improve in every area — from cleaning up our transitions to collective effort. You learn from defeats, and that’s what we want to show.” He also gave props to the opponent: “Arsenal are a great team, with a great coach, and I was surprised by Declan Rice — I’d never seen him score from a free kick before.”