The reason behind Jude Bellingham's fury at being substituted in Real Madrid's 3-1 defeat by AC Milan has been revealed.
Defending champions Madrid slipped to their second Champions League loss of the season on Tuesday night as they were humbled by their Italian opponents at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Bellingham was taken off with 15 minutes remaining after Milan opened up a two-goal cushion, and could not hide his frustration as he lashed out at a water bottle once he'd made his way off the pitch.
The 21-year-old has now not scored for Madrid in almost six months, but there was a specific incident on Tuesday that led to Bellingham losing his cool, according to reports.
As reported by Marca, Bellingham was left angry with Vinicius Jr after the Brazilian star did not let him take the first-half penalty awarded to Madrid.
After falling behind early on, Madrid were given the opportunity to equalise from the spot when Vinicius Jr was fouled, and Bellingham felt it was his turn to take the penalty.
Madrid's previous four penalties this season had been shared between Vinicius Jr and Kylian Mbappe, but Bellingham made it clear during a game against Stuttgart in September that he was also wants to take spot-kicks.
However, Vinicius Jr took the ball on Tuesday and duly converted to bring Madrid level before Milan went on to score twice more and seal a famous win.
Bellingham has only taken four penalties in his career - and just one for Madrid - but has scored all of them.
His latest successful attempt came in England's Euro 2024 quarter-final against Switzerland in the summer when Gareth Southgate's men prevailed after a tense shootout.
Despite the penalty dispute coming nearly an hour before Bellingham was taken off, it still appeared to be playing on his mind as he left the field.
Bellingham is also believed to be disappointed with his overall lack of impact in the final third this season, with Carlo Ancelotti using him in a deeper role which has limited his number of shots on goal.
The England international scored 23 goals in his debut season for Madrid, but is yet to get off the mark this term, as Ancelotti has struggled to find a system that gets the best out of Bellingham, Vinicius Jr and summer signing Mbappe.
This is not the first time that Bellingham and Vinicius Jr have appeared to be at loggerheads, as the former was visibly frustrated when his team-mate didn't pass him the ball during a 2-1 win over Celta Vigo last month.
Ancelotti attempted to play down the spat after the game, but there may be simmering tension between the pair once more following Tuesday's penalty situation.
The pressure is ramping up on Ancelotti, with Madrid currently nine points behind Barcelona in LaLiga - albeit with a game in hand - while they are far from guaranteed an automatic spot in the last-16 of the Champions League at the halfway stage of the league phase.
Mbappe is also understood to be unhappy with Madrid's style of play under Ancelotti, having been used largely as a striker rather than in his favoured position on the left wing this season.
Ancelotti has multiple problems to resolve and badly needs a win before the international break, with Bellingham and Co back in action on Saturday afternoon when they face Osasuna.
