While the Bell toils, Rice just takes over

BIRDS of a feather flock together, and on Real Madrid's first visit to the Emirates the plumages on parade in midfield were breathtaking.

- MIKE WALTERS

Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice are on the same side when England's Three Lions are embroidered on their shirts, but in a giddy atmosphere their rivalry was more intense than a starlings' murmuration.

Bellingham almost demolished a VAR pitchside monitor with a an angry swish of his left foot after Real's last-gasp home defeat by Valencia at the weekend.

He had to be hooked by new England coach Thomas Tuchel before he could get himself sent off against Latvia at Wembley last month, so his circuits are still governed by a short fuse.

But as Our Jude drifted in off the left flank, into territory patrolled diligently by Rice, he was given less change than a fruit machine. And on an unforgettable night in north London, there was no mistaking who came out on top.