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Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti claims a breakdown in communication between Jude Bellingham and referee Jose Luis Munuera Montero led to the former being sent off against Osasuna for using foul language.

Madrid’s winless streak in La Liga extended to three games after a 1-1 draw in Pamplona, after Kylian Mbappe’s 25th goal of the season had given the reigning champions a first-half lead.

But despite having the advantage, Bellingham and his teammates had felt aggrieved by a number of decisions in the game, which led to the 20-year-old venting his frustration as Osasuna prepared to take a goal kick.

Referee Munuera Montero swiftly showed Bellingham a straight red card for dissent, to the complete bemusement of Tuesday’s match winner in the 3-2 victory over Manchester City in the first leg of their Champions League knockout round play-off tie.

After the match, Ancelotti told the assembled media: ‘I think the referee did not understand Jude Bellingham’s English. He said f**k off, not f**k you… that’s way different.

“‘I won’t talk more about the referee as I want to be on the bench next week.”

Ancelotti did go on to discuss the standard of officiating in La Liga, saying: “Strange things have happened in these three games that everyone has seen. I don’t feel like adding more.

“Everyone saw that the VAR didn’t go in to look at plays in their area but they did in ours. There is a problem. Something has happened that shouldn’t happen. We must fight and continue.”

As for Bellingham, he corroborated Ancelotti’s version of events and insisted that he did not insult the referee directly. “I didn’t say anything bad to the referee,” he told reporters. “It’s clear that there was a communication error.

“It’s an expression like the Spanish one “j***r”… and the consequence is that he left us with one less player. It’s not an insult, it was an expression for myself.”

Bellingham’s absence would cost Madrid as Ante Bundimir’s second-half penalty earned a point for Osasuna, allowing Barcelona the opportunity to climb back to the top of La Liga should they beat Rayo Vallecano on Monday night.

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Mikel Arteta says that Ethan Nwaneri’s “let me go, let me go” approach has been key to his rapid development at Arsenal.

The gifted 17-year-old was Arsenal’s best player in Saturday’s vital 2-0 win over Leicester City at King Power Stadium, grabbing the assist for Mikel Merino’s deadlock-breaking goal.

The Spaniard, playing as a makeshift striker after coming on a second-half substitute, grabbed a second before full-time to allow Arsenal to put the squeeze on Premier League leaders Liverpool, who entertain Wolves at Anfield on Sunday.

Merino more than staked his game to provide Arteta with the cover he needs at centre forward, but it was the brilliance of Nwaneri, who has burst onto the scene this season, which was again a major talking point after the final whistle.

Arteta has spoken of the importance of carefully nurturing young players in order to aid their development but is all too aware of the talent Nwaneri possesses. Indeed, the Spaniard referenced that he’s in the team on merit, and not just because of the club’s injury crisis, and revealed the mindset of his player which is helping to drive his success.

“What he’s showing basically, that’s him,” Arteta told reporters.

“Obviously, his age is something that puts a question mark on how we have to deal with him, but every time that he’s given us,  he’s always ‘let me go, let me go, let me go.’ When a player is giving you all those signs, you shouldn’t stop it, and you have to play with that freedom, that creativity, that confidence that he’s playing with at the minute and the players around him are believing in him. So, let him go because he’s a massive threat, massive talent and he deserves to play.

“I think there were a few in the first half as well, every time he was on the ball, he made things happen. You could see that he had another level of threat and the rest of the team, and he continued with that in the second half with two great actions. And after that, he puts the ball on the plate for Mikel to score the header.”

Nwaneri is perhaps more naturally suited to playing in-field, taking up an advanced central midfield role, but his standout showings in the absence of the injured Bukayo Saka show how versatile an asset he may be between now and the end of the season.

Playing on the right may be Nwaneri’s role for the next couple of months as Saka continues to recover from hamstring injury, though he may rotate with Leandro Trossard and the struggling Raheem Sterling in an increasingly threadbare Arsenal front three.

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Pep Guardiola admits he was “scared” when Erling Haaland went down clutching his knee against Newcastle United but is confident he’ll be ready for Manchester City’s huge Champions League return leg clash with Real Madrid.

Haaland received treatment on the field from the club’s physios before the decision was taken to withdraw the 24-year-old from the remainder of the game.

City had already put the game to bed, steamrolling Newcastle 4-0 thanks to a hat-trick from January signing Omar Marmoush, but the major talking point after the game was not the result, rather how serious Haaland’s injury might be.

Speaking to reporters for his post-match media duties, Guardiola provided an upbeat tone that suggested he’s confident of Haaland’s participation against Real Madrid.

“When he was down, everyone was scared but he got up and walked smiling like always,” Guardiola said. “I didn’t speak to him or the doctors but the doctors didn’t come with bad news so hopefully he is fine.”

While City have been struggling domestically and in Europe, Haaland has continued to find the net with regularity. His 19 Premier League goals have been complemented by a further eight in the Champions League, taking his season’s tally to 27.

Yet he wasn’t required to be on the scoresheet against Newcastle as Marmoush took centre stage, with the Egyptian’s performance unsurprisingly drawing praise from Guardiola.

“The highlights are for him, of course,” Guardiola remarked. “Three goals, we knew it – in Germany at Frankfurt he made good numbers.

“The dynamic of the group was good and performance was good. He showed what he is. Hopefully he can handle the biggest compliments that are coming. It’s non-stop. 

“It’s so simple, when you play good everyone adapts quickly but when you don’t play good, you need time. It’s not difficult. When we played against Chelsea, he played good and we won. He’s a player that we missed, his movements in behind and his pace.

“He likes to attack the space and he helps to play with more time. When we play like we did today, everyone is better – even the manager!”

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90min rounds up the latest transfer news, rumours and gossip circulating around the world…

Bayern Munich are interested in signing Manchester United winger Antony this summer and have opened talks with the Red Devils over a deal worth around €50m (£41.7m). (Fichajes – Spain)

Arsenal are ready to pay close to €100m (£83.3m) to sign RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko ahead of Barcelona. (El Nacional – Spain)

The Gunners may not stop there as Arsenal are even considering signing two big-name strikers in the summer. (GIVEMESPORT)

Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson is attracting interest from Aston Villa, Newcastle United and Atletico Madrid. (The Sun)

Despite interest from both Arsenal and Liverpool, Athletic Club winger Nico Williams still favours a transfer to Barcelona. (TBR Football)

Chelsea have reached out to Barcelona to discuss a move for 21-year-old midfielder Marc Casado. (Cadena SER – Spain)

Also on Chelsea‘s radar is Brighton & Hove Albion winger Kaoru Mitoma. The Blues are ready to pay £75m to sign the Japan international, who opened the scoring against Enzo Maresca’s side on Friday. (Fichajes – Spain)

Liverpool are ready to reignite their pursuit of Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Micky van de Ven at the end of the season. The Dutchman was of significant interest before his move to Spurs in 2023. (Football Insider)

Officials from Anfield are enormous fans of Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Warren Zaire-Emery and will pay whatever it takes to bring the 18-year-old to Liverpool. (Anfield Watch)

Coming in at PSG could be Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann, who has been identified as a potential bargain signing. (Fichajes – Spain)

Real Madrid will make a bid worth €45m (£37.5m) plus Gonzalo Garcia to try sign Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi. (Real Madrid Confidencial – Spain)

Manchester City and Atletico Madrid are both interested in signing Roma forward Paulo Dybala in the summer. (Fichajes – Spain)

Newcastle will rival Brighton and Brentford for the signature of 25-year-old Celtic forward Nicolas Kuhn. (TEAMtalk)

West Ham United are ready to part ways with Guido Rodriguez in the summer but manager Graham Potter hopes to keep hold of 19-year-old Luis Guilherme despite speculation of a move to Saudi Arabia. (TBR Football)

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The WSL returns this weekend after a brief break for the FA Cup and Chelsea will hope to further extend their lead at the top of the table.

Sonia Bompastor’s side currently lead the way in the league standings, and are seven points clear of Manchester United at this stage. Arsenal are 10 points adrift in third, followed by Manchester City in fourth.

At the other end of the table, Crystal Palace are at risk of relegation in 12, but are just three points behind Leicester City. The likes of West Ham, Everton and Aston Villa are also at risk of being dragged into a battle for survival.

As the business end of the season nears, every game and every point is crucial for teams at the top and bottom of the WSL. So, 90min have predicted every result this weekend with some huge fixtures to come…

Outside of Chelsea, United are undoubtedly the most in-form team in the league at the moment and they are the closest challengers for the title. After a narrow win over Tottenham Hotspur last time out in the league, Marc Skinner’s side will be hoping for a more comfortable victory this time around.

Palace have been stern opposition for a number of teams this term and unlike newly promoted sides in years gone by, are not necessarily the nailed on favourites to get relegated. There is still plenty to play for and points against the top teams in the division will go a long way in ensuring they’re still in the top flight next season.

That being said, United away is tough for any team, even those in good form. Palace have shown in flashes how resilient they can be, but it’s difficult to see anything other than a home win on this occasion.

Prediction: Manchester United 4-0 Crystal Palace

The big games just keep coming for Arsenal as they were narrowly victorious against Manchester City last time out in the WSL. Now, they must host their bitter North London rivals at the Emirates Stadium in a bid to keep the pace with Chelsea and United.

Renee Slegers’ side are overwhelming favourites for this fixture given recent form, but that does not mean it will be straightforward. While Arsenal will likely come out on top in the end, Spurs will still be in it for the majority of the game.

Prediction: Arsenal 3-1 Tottenham

Chelsea’s last league win against Aston Villa was very uncharacteristic in that it took a late own goal from Sarah Mayling for the visitors to claim all three points at Villa Park. For large spells, Bompastor’s side looked a little uninspired and lacking in ideas.

That being said, it is always the sign of true champions when points are gained despite putting in a sub-par performance. Everton will be another stern test as a number of top teams have struggled to break them down this season.

Brian Sorensen’s side have also gained a new lease of life this month after a positive January transfer window. That being said, they have recently lost club captain Megan Finnigan to an ACL injury, which could derail some of the progress made in recent weeks.

Prediction: Chelsea 2-0 Everton

Leicester City’s form this season is extremely hit and miss. They recorded a big win at home to Liverpool at the end of last month, but followed that up with a dismal 4-1 loss at home to Everton a week later.

Villa, on the other hand, are still finding their feet under a new manager but have shown promising signs already. It’s difficult to see anything separating these two teams and a draw would be unsurprising.

Prediction: Leicester City 2-2 Aston Villa

Despite an extremely promising start to the season, Brighton’s form since the turn of the year has been anything but. The Seagulls are now three games without a win in the WSL following defeats to Liverpool and Spurs, followed by a draw against Palace last time out in the league.

West Ham will be no easy test for Dario Vidosic’s side, but it is the perfect opportunity to turn things around and get back on track. It won’t be comfortable, but any win would be significant for Brighton.

Prediction: West Ham 1-2 Brighton

Manchester City desperately need a win in order to regain some control in the race for Champions League football. Their hopes of lifting the WSL title have diminished in recent weeks following defeats against United and Arsenal and now Gareth Taylor’s side are at risk of losing out on a top three finish.

Liverpool’s defensive vulnerabilities are something City will need to exploit this weekend when the Merseyside outfit visit the Joie Stadium. City may have won the meeting at Anfield earlier in the campaign, but it was also a stern warning as to what Matt Beard’s side are capable of going forward with the likes of Olivia Smith.

Prediction: Manchester City 4-0 Liverpool

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