“You’re a fake” – La Liga fullback BLASTS Real Madrid superstar

La Liga full-back Pablo Maffeo has offered his controversial opinion about two Real Madrid superstars.

During a recent interview, Maffeo said “I like Vinicius more than Bellingham,” which is an admittedly benign statement on its own.

However he then followed it up by saying: “With Vini, you can tell he’s a hothead, but the other one, he’s sneaky, if you act like you’re a gentleman and then insult people behind their backs, then you’re a fake.”

The Mallorca right-back is making reference to Jude Bellingham’s recent red card and subsequent two-match ban for swearing at a La Liga referee in English.

Mbappe DECISION could change everything for Vini Jr

To his shock, the referee understood his insult and sent him off. And then despite days of Real Madrid’s media machine arguing that Jude had used a less harsh version of the swearing insult, the red was upheld and made into a two-match ban.

That is still a light sentence when you recall that Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski got a 3-match suspension for touching his nose after a red card away to Osasuna.

Regardless, Maffeo is insinuating that Jude Bellingham, who has been widely praised for his gentlemanly conduct and tremendous sportsmanship since joining Real Madrid in 2023, pretends to be nice but really insults people behind their back (or in a language they can’t understand).

It seems like an unfair thing to say, but it fits Maffeo’s combative and provocative nature. He seems to already be setting the stage for Mallorca’s next match against Real Madrid (currently scheduled for 13th May at the Santiago Bernabeu) and perhaps putting himself in the shop window if any side is in need of a full-back to combat these Real Madrid superstars (like, oh let’s say his former club Man City).

What makes these comments even funnier is that Maffeo has a long history of duelling with Vini Jr. during games, where he tries every trick in the book to get under the Brazilian winger’s skin. So to now say he appreciate’s Vini’s straightforward hotheaded nature feels a bit disingenous.

Maffeo would wait for Argentina

Pablo Maffeo was born in Barcelona, Spain to an Argentine father and Italian mother. While he came through the Espanyol youth academy and played for Spain’s youth teams, he has said he would only play for one nation.

“I wouldn’t go with Spain because I would wait until I could get a call from Argentina. They were the first to knock on my door,” said Maffeo in an interview.

Maffeo was called up by Argentina in November 2023 but didn’t play, and so is still eligible to represent Spain (or Italy) but the full-back has clearly expressed a desire to only represent the current World and South American champions, placing the European champions bottom of his list.

“I would go before Italy than Spain. I have Argentina in my head…”

Whether any of these nations call on Maffeo remains to be seen.