VIDEO: Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Junior among Real Madrid stars to purposely avoid stepping on Man City badge when heading out to train at Etihad Stadium

Real Madrid's stars, including Jude Bellingham, carefully avoided stepping on the Manchester City badge before training at the Etihad Stadium.

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• Real Madrid train at Etihad ahead of blockbuster second-leg
• Video shows Madrid stars avoiding stepping on City shield
• Gesture follows tradition in Spain of respecting badge

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  WHAT HAPPENED?

  As the players made their way through the tunnel out on to the pitch for their final training session ahead of Wednesday night's Champions League quarter-final second-leg, cameras caught the squad, including Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Junior, diligently avoiding stepping on the City shield embossed on the floor of the corridor.

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• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  The gesture follows something of a tradition in Spain of not stepping across a club crest and will be second nature to most of the Madrid squad and has been quickly picked up by Bellingham. Similar footage emerged from a quarter-final clash in 2022 when Atletico Madrid's Luis Suarez and Rodrigo De Paul neatly avoided the same badge in the Etihad tunnel.

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  WHAT NEXT FOR REAL MADRID?

  It will be fascinating to see how long the off-field respect can hold when the action gets underway in Manchester on Wednesday evening, with the tie finely balanced after their epic 3-3 first-leg draw.