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It was a disappointing evening at Anfield for Jude Bellingham as Liverpool inflicted a 1-0 defeat on Real Madrid in the Champions League. Arne Slot’s men have struggled recently but they dominated the most decorated team in Champions League history and fully deserved their win. Alexis Mac Allister was the hero for Liverpool with the winning goal on 61 minutes and in truth, Thibaut Courtois kept the score respectable with eight saves.
Real Madrid’s star players failed to shine with Vinicius Junior shackled by the excellent Conor Bradley and Kylian Mbappé was subdued but it was still a historic night for Bellingham. The 22-year-old became the youngest player in history to reach 50 Champions League games, eclipsing the previous record held by Iker Casillas. But could Bellingham become the Englishman with the most appearances ever in the competition?
Englishmen with the most Champions League appearances
Bellingham played 23 times for Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League with the Liverpool defeat his 27th game in the competition for Real Madrid. The midfielder moved level with Owen Hargreaves in 28th place with 50 appearances but he’s still some distance off the record holder, Paul Scholes. The Manchester United legend played 124 times for the Old Trafford club, scoring 24 goals and he won the competition twice.
Scholes’ teammate at United, Gary Neville ranks second with 110 appearances. John Terry completes the top three with 109 minutes but interestingly, the former Chelsea captain has played the most overall minutes of any Englishman with 9,573 – Ashley Cole and David Beckham feature in the top ten. Only five current players make the top twenty list in Raheem Sterling (8th), Phil Foden (16th), Trent Alexander-Arnold (17th), Harry Kane (18th) and John Stones (19th).
