Carlo Ancelotti, the manager of Real Madrid, responds to Jude Bellingham’s unsuccessful attempt to score a winning goal.

Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham appeared to have completed a remarkable comeback against Valencia on Saturday evening. Trailing 2-0, Bellingham scored what seemed to be a stoppage-time winner. However, referee Jesus Gil Manzano sensationally disallowed the goal, claiming that time had run out.

Valencia had taken control of the match with first-half goals from Hugo Duro and Roman Yaremchuk. But Real Madrid’s Brazilian forward Vinicius Junior pulled one back just before half-time. Vinicius then struck again in the 76th minute, leaving his mark on a fixture in which he was racially abused last season.

With the match still level in the 99th minute, attacking midfielder Brahim Diaz delivered a cross from the right flank. Bellingham headed the ball down beyond goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili, and it bounced over the line. Madrid’s players erupted in celebration, only to have their joy cut short by referee Manzano, who indicated that he had already blown the full-time whistle. The sound of the whistle could be clearly heard on the telecast, blown as Diaz’s cross came in.

A furious Bellingham confronted Manzano, resulting in a red card for the midfielder. He shouted, “it’s a f****** goal,” as noted in the official report. The referee had indicated a minimum of seven minutes of added time at the 90th minute, and stoppage time also included a lengthy VAR review of a penalty call that was eventually overturned.

After the match, Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti came to Bellingham’s defense and expressed his belief that the referee had made a mistake. Ancelotti stated, “There isn’t much to say. Something unprecedented happened. We had possession. The play should stop when Valencia have the ball. It’s unprecedented. It’s never happened to me.”

Regarding Bellingham’s red card, Ancelotti was clear in his support. He said, “We were annoyed with Bellingham’s red card. He didn’t say any insults. He said in English ‘it’s a f****** goal,’ but he was just saying what we were all thinking.. [The referee] allowed play to continue. I think he made a mistake. [Bellingham] was clear in what he said. He was quite vehement [in his reaction] but that’s normal, after what happened. It wasn’t an insult, not at all.”

Despite the controversial result, Real Madrid remains in a strong position in the league. They sit seven points clear of Girona, with the gap potentially reducing to four if Girona loses to Mallorca on Sunday. They are also nine points ahead of Barcelona. Ancelotti made sure to highlight this fact, stating, “We’ll look at the table and we’ll sleep well.”