Jude Bellingham was one of Real Madrid’s expected stars against Liverpool. However, he was completely overshadowed by the excellence of Ryan Gravenberch.

Gravenberch was tasked with marking Bellingham directly, and he did a fine job. The Real Madrid midfielder attempted just one shot, failed to complete any dribbles, and created just 0.06 expected assists (xA).

Bellingham’s lackluster attacking performance was largely down to solid defending from Gravenberch, who made two tackles, two interceptions, and three recoveries.

Not only was Gravenberch excellent without the ball, he also completely controlled the tempo of the game when Liverpool had possession. He completed 92% of his passes, including 7 accurate passes into the opponent’s final third.

Gravenberch’s role in developing the ball and maintaining control of the game pleased coach Arne Slot, while coach Carlo Ancelotti was certainly not happy with Bellingham’s limited influence throughout the match.

Bellingham completed 87% of his passes, but had 27 fewer successful passes than Gravenberch. He lost possession 13 times, while Gravenberch lost possession just six times, underscoring the former Dortmund midfielder’s ineffectiveness.

According to SofaScore, Gravenberch was rated 7.2 points, higher than Bellingham’s 6.8 points. Although not as outstanding as some of his teammates, Gravenberch still showed stability and superiority, while Bellingham was overshadowed by teammates like Thibaut Courtois, Eduardo Camavinga and Federico Valverde despite the Real Madrid team generally playing below their best.