Ace bled badly in disaster (7)
I believe the answer is:
debacle
'disaster' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'ace bled badly' is the wordplay.
'badly' indicates anagramming the letters.
'ace'+'bled'='acebled'
'acebled' with letters rearranged gives 'DEBACLE'.
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for debacle that I've seen before include "Humiliating disaster" , "Disatrous collapse" , "Utter failure" , "Fiasco, a right mess" , "great failure" .)