Jude Bellingham speaks out on Osasuna red card amid 12-game suspension risk | OneFootball

Jude Bellingham has doubled down on his claim that his red card in Real Madrid's 1-1 draw with Osasuna was due to a misunderstanding.

As he protested to the referee late in the first half, Bellingham was left stunned to see a straight red card directed his way, with manager Carlo Ancelotti later revealing Bellingham had been accused of saying "f**k you" to the official.

"He said 'f**k off', not 'f**k you'... that's way different," Ancelotti stressed after the game.

Taking to social media, Bellingham issued his own apology for the incident as he sought to move on from the situation.

"Enough said about the misunderstanding, just wanted to apologise again for leaving my teammates in such a tough position and thank the fans for their support and understanding," he wrote. "See you at home on Wednesday."

Madrid now face an anxious wait to discover the punishment La Liga will hand out to Bellingham, who will argue that the referee's report of the encounter is not a fair reflection of what happened.

League rules state any player found guilty of "insulting, offending or addressing the main referee, assistants, fourth official, directors or sports authorities in offensive terms or attitudes" can face a suspension of anywhere between four and 12 matches.

In March 2024, Bellingham was handed a two-game ban for what was deemed to be an "aggressive attitude" towards an official.

The 21-year-old is free to play in the Champions League, however, with any possible suspension only applying to domestic competitions. That means Bellingham will likely be in Madrid's team for Wednesday's knockout round play-off second leg against Manchester City, having scored the winner in a thrilling comeback 3-2 win at the Etihad Stadium in the pair's first encounter.