Chris Sutton says he was ‘surprised’ by Jude Bellingham’s attempts to put Harry Kane off his penalty in Bayern Munich’s 2-2 draw with Real Madrid and believes the young midfielder showed a ‘lack of respect’.
During Tuesday’s pulsating Champions League semi-final first leg, Kane was given the chance to put Bayern in front after Jamal Musiala was clumsily tripped by Lucas Vazquez inside the box on the hour mark in Munich.
The spot-kick was awarded just four minutes after Leroy Sane had cancelled out Vinicius Junior’s opener and Kane held his nerve with an emphatic strike to Andriy Lunin’s left-hand side to take the roof off the Allianz Arena.
In the moments leading up to the penalty, Bellingham tried – and failed – to distract Kane with mind games, telling the seemingly unfazed England captain which way he was going to put his strike.
Referee Clement Turpin even had to push Bellingham away from Kane before the Bayern attacker added a 43rd goal to his tally in what has been a phenomenal debut season in Germany.
‘In the moment I didn’t know what he said. I spoke to him afterwards and he said he told me, “I know you’re going to go left”, he was trying to tell the ‘keeper,’ Kane revealed shortly after Vinicius Junior scored a penalty of his own to level the tie.
‘On the pitch I didn’t know [what he said]. I knew he was there, but I just kind of didn’t know what he said.
‘I saw the ‘keeper go a bit early and I was able to put it away. Obviously the penalty was nice for me.’
While Kane appeared to play down the significance of the incident, Sutton has criticised Bellingham’s behaviour, speculating that the England skipper will have been less than impressed with his international colleague ahead of this summer’s European Championships.
‘I was surprised,’ the ex-England, Celtic and Blackburn forward said on Mail Sport’s It’s All Kicking Off podcast.
‘Whether you like it or I like it, it doesn’t matter. Did Harry Kane like it? Does Harry Kane like it 24 hours on? I think he would feel there’s a bit of a lack of respect there.
‘I really, really do. They’re off to the Euros together.’
According to Sutton, Bellingham risks fans accusing him of ‘getting a bit above his station’ with such behaviour.
‘There’s a big competition, a big moment,’ he added.
‘You can understand the desperation for Bellingham, for Real Madrid to go through. But I thought it was a strange move.
‘He’s had a brilliant start to his career, exceptional at Dortmund. He’s gone to Madrid but maybe people are viewing him as someone who may be getting a bit above his station when he does stuff like that.’
Bellingham was substituted for Luka Modric with 15 minutes remaining in Munich and Carlo Ancelotti revealed the midfielder had been struggling with cramp in his post-match press conference.
However, the former Birmingham and Borussia Dortmund sensation is expected to return to full fitness in time for the semi-final second leg at the Bernabeu next Wednesday night.
‘He is going to recover to full fitness,’ Ancelotti told reporters.
‘He has had an injury that has affected him. He will be back very soon and by Wednesday he will be 100 per cent.’
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
MORE : Arsenal handed transfer headache over wonderkid who Bayern Munich want
MORE : Erik ten Hag responds to Jadon Sancho’s excellent Champions League performance for Borussia Dortmund
MORE : Why Karim Benzema has returned to Real Madrid from Saudi Arabia
