{"id":442113,"date":"2026-01-30T02:49:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T02:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/442113\/"},"modified":"2026-01-30T02:49:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T02:49:08","slug":"what-went-wrong-for-real-madrid-against-benfica-bellingham-and-valverde-respond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/442113\/","title":{"rendered":"What went wrong for Real Madrid against Benfica? Bellingham and Valverde respond"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Midfield leaders admit the team failed to deliver<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"standard-img\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/11934fd3173a8aa211b49c9687fbedfc.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>What went wrong for Real Madrid against Benfica? Bellingham and Valverde respond<\/p>\n<p>Jude Bellingham &amp; Federico Valverde expressed frustration after Real Madrid\u2019s 4-2 defeat to Benfica in Champions League league phase.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Real Madrid stars Jude Bellingham &amp; Federico Valverde admitted their disappointment following damaging 4-2 loss to Benfica on Wednesday, a result that ends Los Blancos\u2019 league-phase campaign in Champions League and forces them into the playoff round for place in the last 16.<\/p>\n<p>The defeat was major setback for the Spanish giants who conceded four goals in match that left the squad frustrated and searching for answers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA very frustrating result\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bellingham described the defeat as \u201cvery frustrating\u201d and said the team did not expect the way the match unfolded.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to Real Madrid\u2019s official website, the England international admitted he had few words to explain the performance.<\/p>\n<p>He noted that Benfica showed more intensity and aggression while Madrid failed to do the basic things they usually rely on including creating chances through individual quality.<\/p>\n<p>Bellingham\u2019s comments reflected the mood in the dressing room after match that exposed gaps in Madrid\u2019s defensive balance and overall control.<\/p>\n<p>Valverde takes responsibility as captain<\/p>\n<p>Valverde who wore the captain\u2019s armband against Benfica called for strong self-criticism and insisted that the responsibility lies with the players.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>The Uruguayan midfielder said the team must not blame anyone else stressing that footballers have to show character on the pitch.<\/p>\n<p>According to Valverde, Real Madrid did not deliver what was required in such an important European match.<\/p>\n<p>Benfica punish Madrid\u2019s drop in focus<\/p>\n<p>Valverde explained that Madrid started the match well until the opening goal but then became too relaxed.<\/p>\n<p>That allowed Benfica to settle into their defensive structure and strike effectively on the counter-attack.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>The Portuguese side\u2019s disciplined approach and quick transitions caused serious problems for Madrid who struggled to regain control once Benfica gained momentum.<\/p>\n<p>Real Madrid face extra pressure<\/p>\n<p>The loss means Real Madrid will now have to play additional knockout playoff to reach the round of 16 increasing pressure during an already demanding season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Midfield leaders admit the team failed to deliver What went wrong for Real Madrid against Benfica? Bellingham and&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":442114,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[123945,91419,49,48,568,182935,564,561,82,182934],"class_list":{"0":"post-442113","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer","8":"tag-bellingham","9":"tag-benfica","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-canada","12":"tag-champions-league","13":"tag-england-international","14":"tag-real-madrid","15":"tag-soccer","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-valverde"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=442113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/442114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=442113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=442113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=442113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}