LIVERPOOL, England -- Three years ago, two of the most talked about young players in Europe faced off for the first time as senior professionals in the Champions League. On that night it was Ryan Gravenberch who got the better of Jude Bellingham as Ajax routed Borussia Dortmund 4-0 at the Johan Cruyff Arena. The duo are now with different clubs -- Gravenberch at Liverpool; Bellingham at Real Madrid -- and will share a pitch again on Wednesday night as their teams battle it out in the revamped Champions League at Anfield. But a lot has changed since 2021. Both can be considered among Europe's elite midfielders, but their respective journeys have been wildly different. Bellingham's ascent has been swift and meteoric; Gravenberch's has been less straightforward. Had Liverpool not ended their pursuit of Bellingham ahead of the 2023 summer window, there is every chance Gravenberch's transfer from Bayern Munich that same summer would not have materialised. But though it took the Dutchman some time to settle, his evolution has helped propel Liverpool to new heights this term. He had something special about him Born in Amsterdam, Gravenberch spent much of his childhood striving to emulate his older brother, Danzell. In an interview with The Guardian, the 22-year-old credited Danzell with toughening him up during street football matches and the pair both came through the ranks at the Ajax academy. While the older Gravenberch sibling has since gone on to represent 13 different clubs at various levels across his career so far -- his latest stop is FC Den Bosch in the Dutch second tier -- it was always clear his younger brother was destined for the top. When he was about four years old, we used to take Ryan to play football on a Sunday morning and playing against boys who were seven or eight years old, he was always the best player, Gravenberch's father, Ryan Sr., tells ESPN. Me and my wife would always look at each other and be like 'Huh?' We couldn't believe it. Then, as he got older, we started to see he had a certain skillset that just wasn't normal. From a very early age, we could tell he was a special boy. It was a similar story when Gravenberch began playing for local club AVV Zeeburgia -- widely dubbed the royal supplier due to their track record for producing professional Dutch players, including former Manchester United defender Timothy Fosu-Mensah and ex-PSV Eindhoven winger Luciano Narsingh -- and when he joined Ajax, where he shared an age group with Netherlands internationals Kenneth Taylor and Brian Brobbey. From the first time he stepped on the pitch, you could see he was a good player, Peter van der Veen, who began coaching Gravenberch at Ajax under-15 level, tells ESPN. He had something special about him. At Ajax, we worked back then with mentors and I was one of his, so that means you have more contact with the player and try to help develop him. He stood out even as a kid. After three months at U15 level, he was already too good for the team so we tried to challenge him by moving him up to a higher age group where he would be playing against the bigger guys and still trying to be the best. Sometimes he would even go two age groups higher, but still he could cope with the pressure. Even against the bigger players, he was so hard to get off the ball when he was in possession. Ryan Gravenberch has been tipped for the top for many years but is starting to showcase his ability at Liverpool. VIRGINIE LEFOUR/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images Gravenberch's potential put him on the radar of Europe's top clubs from a young age, with Liverpool among the interested parties even before they signing him as a senior player. In 2018, at 16 years and 130 days, he became the youngest-ever Ajax player to feature in the Eredivisie, surpassing the record set by Clarence Seedorf in 1992. By the 2021-22 season, he was a regular in the first team and, having already made more than a century of appearances for Ajax, the midfielder caught the eye of Liverpool again and was added to the club's list of midfield targets that summer. Bayern Munich were also tracking him and it was the German giants who landed his signature for a fee of €20 million. But things didn't go as planned. Across Gravenberch's lone campaign at the Allianz Arena, he managed just 938 minutes of competitive action, starting three times in the Bundesliga. He is, of course, sad that he doesn't play much, but not frustrated or angry at all, Bayern boss Julian Nagelsmann told Sky Sport Deutschland in October 2022. He's a great guy, who will continue his development. I've told him that he is going to be one of the best midfielders in the world one day, and I'm committed to that. He just has to adjust a few things, and he will do that. However, by the following March, Nagelsmann had been sacked and his successor, Thomas Tuchel, also struggled to find a place for Gravenberch in his starting XI. After a whirlwind few years, the midfielder suddenly found himself at a crossroads. Liverpool end Bellingham pursuit Liverpool were tracking young midfielder Jude Bellingham before he moved to Real Madrid. Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images While Gravenberch's career was stagnating at Bayern, Bellingham's went from strength to strength at Dortmund. Though Dortmund fell short in the 2022-23 Bundesliga title race, the England midfielder -- signed as a 17-year-old from Birmingham City for €30m in the summer of 2020 -- established himself as the German league's leading star with eight goals and five assists in 31 games. During his time at the club, Bellingham broke many records, becoming the youngest player to reach a century of appearances for Dortmund and winning the Bundesliga's Player of the Season award for 2022-23. And of course, he was regularly linked with a move to a host of European giants, including Liverpool. I don't like to talk about money when you talk about a player like him, Jurgen Klopp said in a news conference in December 2022. Everyone can see he is just exceptional. If you mention to someone who has no clue about football: 'How old do you think Jude Bellingham is?' I don't think anyone would get even close to his age. They would say 28 or 29 because he plays so mature. While Klopp made no secret of his admiration for Bellingham, Liverpool opted against pursuing him as a transfer target, with sources at the time telling ESPN's Mark Ogden that the cost of a proposed €100m move would prevent the club from strengthening elsewhere. The decision was hugely unpopular with fans and led to extensive criticism of Liverpool's owners, Fenway Sports Group (FSG). However, Klopp publicly defended the club's stance, giving a pragmatic assessment of their position. We are not children, he said in a news conference in April 2023. Ask a five-year-old what they want for Christmas and they say a Ferrari, you wouldn't say that's a good idea, it's too expensive and you cannot drive it. It's what can you do and then you do it, and work with that. It's always how I've worked. Whatever we need and what we want, we try absolutely everything to get it. You have to accept that this or that is not possible for us. We'll step aside and do different stuff. So, with a Ferrari firmly off the table (Bellingham moved to Real Madrid for an initial €103m in June 2023), Klopp and Liverpool had to scour the market for more financially workable alternatives. Klopp's 2023 midfield rebuild With Michael Edwards leaving his position as Liverpool's sporting director in 2022, and his replacement, Julian Ward, following suit after just a year in the job, interim Jorg Schmadtke was tasked with orchestrating the club's midfield rebuild in the summer of 2023. Out went captain Jordan Henderson (£12m to Al Ettifaq), Fabinho (£40m to Al Ittihad), Naby Keïta (free transfer to Werder Bremen), James Milner (free transfer to Brighton & Hove Albion) and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (free transfer to Besiktas). In came Alexis Mac Allister (£35m from Brighton), Dominik Szoboszlai (£60m from RB Leipzig) and Wataru Endo (£16.2m from VfB Stuttgart). But with other midfield targets Moisés Caicedo (£115m) and Romeo Lavia (£53m) having snubbed Liverpool in favour of a move to Chelsea, there was a lingering sense that the club were still light in the middle of the park with deadline day approaching. Liverpool's readiness to stump up the cash for Caicedo, having deemed Bellingham too expensive just a few months prior, caused consternation in some quarters of the fanbase. Klopp, however, was quick to point to the unexpected departures of Henderson and Fabinho when pressed on the reasoning behind the club's change of approach. We have not endless resources, he said in a news conference. We didn't expect a couple of things happening in the summer -- Hendo, Fab, stuff like this. We didn't think about this before the summer to be honest, and when it happened, we gave it a go. Obviously, the club was really stretched, to be honest. Jurgen Klopp's influence persuaded Gravenberch to move to Liverpool. Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images While Liverpool's interest in Gravenberch was longstanding, it wasn't until the final few days of the transfer window that Bayern agreed to sanction his exit. Only then did Liverpool make their move, signing the Netherlands international on a five-year contract for £34m. Jurgen Klopp was very important to Ryan and also to us, Gravenberch Sr. tells ESPN. Obviously, he didn't really get a chance at Bayern Munich and that was very, very hard for him. Then Jurgen FaceTimed him, with me alongside him, and he was such a positive guy. When the deal was done and he came to Liverpool, he kept all of his promises. A lot of people said Ryan didn't play a lot last season but I don't think that's true. He played a lot considering it was his first season in the Premier League and he was such a young player. Jurgen kept his end of the bargain. He would put his arm around Ryan when he needed it, which is important for a young player who doesn't have a lot of confidence. Gravenberch started just 12 games in the Premier League as Liverpool finished third behind Manchester City and Arsenal. Meanwhile, Bellingham shot to superstardom in Madrid, scoring 23 goals in 42 games in all competitions to win LaLiga and the Champions League, was named LaLiga Player of the Year and finished third in the 2024 Ballon d'Or. Still, Gravenberch's maiden season on Merseyside afforded him the opportunity to get up to speed with the Premier League and, even more crucially, to enjoy playing football regularly again. I have a good connection with [Klopp], the midfielder told TNT Sports in December 2023. When he has something to say to me about the game, or something else, we just talk with each other. I have a good connection with him. He just gives me confidence, to give me minutes on the pitch again. He just told me: 'Enjoy the game again.' And that's what I did. With the minutes, the confidence came back. For the second consecutive year in 2024, Liverpool spent the summer at the centre of one of Europe's most high-profile transfer sagas. With Richard Hughes installed as sporting director and former Feyenoord boss Arne Slot having taken the reins from Klopp, the club's transfer strategy largely hinged on the idea of opportunism. It was for that reason Liverpool opted to pursue a €60m deal for Real Sociedad defensive midfielder Martín Zubimendi, who had impressed in the Euro 2024 final when he replaced the injured Rodri at half-time to help Spain to victory over England. While Slot claimed that he wasn't looking to make many personnel changes that summer, the 25-year-old became Liverpool's top transfer target and they agreed a deal with Real Sociedad to pay his release clause. However, despite receiving assurances that Zubimendi was keen on a move to Anfield, the club once again failed to get their man after La Real launched an 11th-hour charm offensive that proved hugely impactful on a player who had joined them at the age of 12. And so, with that elusive, ball-playing No. 6 proving impossible to secure in the transfer market, Slot and his team instead chose to look inwards. While Gravenberch had been deployed primarily as a No. 8 during his first season at Liverpool, he had enjoyed great success at Ajax playing in a double pivot alongside Edson Álvarez. When you're a good player, you can play anywhere and I think that's the case with Ryan, Van der Veen tells ESPN. You see he is the connection now between the back and the front. We used to push him a bit higher up the pitch, but we always knew he could play everywhere. Gravenberch was trialled in the No. 6 role in preseason, starting there in friendlies against Sevilla and Manchester United, as well as in Liverpool's Premier League opener at Ipswich Town. And it was the Dutchman's impressive display at Portman Road -- he had the third-most touches (71) and second-most passes completed (51) of any Liverpool player -- that helped reinforce Slot's belief that, even without Zubimendi, his squad was well-equipped to excel at the highest level. Last season, Macca (Mac Allister) played there a lot and I think he has certain qualities that Ryan has as well, Slot said in a news conference after the win over Ipswich. If you look at both players, the first thing you think of is with the ball, in ball possession and that's why we as a team have to make sure that whoever is playing in that position is not too exposed. That's what happened today because I think the team really helped to defend in the best possible way, and because of that Ryan had a good performance. Three months on and both Gravenberch and Liverpool appear to be going from strength to strength. Slot's side have an eight-point lead at the top of Premier League table, have won all four of their matches in the Champions League, and are in the quarterfinals of the Carabao Cup. The campaign has been peppered with standout performances, but Gravenberch's emergence has been central to their rise. We are God-believing people, and we think God sent Arne to us and to Liverpool, Gravenberch Sr. tells ESPN. Obviously he's Dutch so when he explains something to Ryan, he can understand it very clearly. He communicates superbly. The main thing he's said to Ryan is: 'I'm going to play you and so it is on you to maintain playing.' He was very clear about that and that has worked for both sides. Having guided Gravenberch through some of his formative years, Van der Veen also thinks the midfielder's relationship with Slot has helped take him to another level. Being in England now, Ryan has Slot almost as a father figure, he says. I think he's a player who needs that extra 2% to feel confident of the coach and Slot seems to be doing a really great job with him. According to Opta, Gravenberch is the only midfielder in Europe's big-five leagues to make both 30+ tackles and 30+ interceptions in all competitions this season. He has already started the same number of Premier League games as he did in the entirety of last term and his status as one of Liverpool's main men amplifies with every passing week. I was at the (2-0 win over Brentford) at Anfield earlier in the season and, one minute before the game ended, Arne took Ryan off so he could get the applause, Gravenberch Sr. says. I was in the stands and the whole stadium stood up and applauded. I just broke down because I thought: 'They're doing this for my boy.' That was the moment where I thought: 'This is it.' With plenty of big games to come for Liverpool in the months ahead, there will no doubt be plenty of opportunities for Gravenberch Jr. to earn another serenade from the Kop. Should such a moment arrive against Real Madrid on Wednesday night, it will be another reminder of how Liverpool's unsuccessful pursuit of Bellingham at least delivered one major silver lining. he MLS Cup playoffs are down to their final four. After No. 1 seed Inter Miami's ouster in Round One, Western Conference champions LAFC were eliminated in the semifinals by the Seattle Sounders. On the other side of Los Angeles, though, the stars seem to be aligning for the LA Galaxy. Atlanta United's Cinderella run, sparked by their upset of Lionel Messi & Co., was short-lived as they fell to Orlando City. Meanwhile, the New York Red Bulls knocked out New York City FC in the first-ever postseason edition of the Hudson River Derby. What to make of the weekend's playoff action? And of the last four teams standing in MLS postseason play? ESPN's experts weigh in. The Galaxy stunned Minnesota United 6-2 in the Western Conference semifinals, becoming the only team to finish in the top three in both the East and West to reach the conference finals. LAFC, Real Salt Lake, FC Cincinnati, the Columbus Crew and Inter Miami all proved to be disappointments in the 2024 postseason. Many predicted Miami would be the likely host and clear favorite to win MLS Cup, as Messi and Luis Suárez scored the team's way to the Supporters' Shield. Instead, the underrated Galaxy came through with 15 goals throughout three playoff games to do what Inter simply couldn't. The historic California club capitalized on the momentum gained throughout the regular season, translating consistency into success during the postseason tournament. -- Megan Swanick remaining clubs will try to clinch their first league championship of the 2020s. Of those four clubs, two from the Eastern Conference -- Orlando City and the Red Bulls -- could make history by lifting an MLS Cup title for the first time. For Orlando, achieving this would be thanks to their revitalized form, which was on display in their 1-0 win over Atlanta. From July, we've been one of the best teams in MLS, said Dagur Thórhallsson after their conference semifinal victory. As for the Red Bulls, who will face Orlando for a coveted spot in the final, they will hope to brush aside their upcoming opponents just like they did NYCFC 2-0 last weekend. Both the Galaxy and the Sounders have more history when it comes to MLS Cup titles -- the Galaxy lead the league with five, while Seattle has two -- but there's a clear sense of redemption after watching other heavy hitters win the championship in recent years. As hosts of the Western Conference final, the red-hot Galaxy will be the favorites, but let's not overlook the grit of the Seattle's roster that went toe-to-toe with LAFC through extra time in a dramatic 2-1 conference semifinal win. -- Cesar Hernandez Atlanta's Cinderella run is already over Once you beat the record-breaking Supporters' Shield winners in the first round of the playoffs, it's hard not to become the neutrals' favorite in the next round. Alas, it wasn't meant to be. Atlanta -- the ninth-best team in the Eastern Conference during the regular season, and the valiant underdog story of Round One -- is out of the playoffs. The Five Stripes upset the star-studded Inter Miami dream team with a string of tenacious performances, polished off by the goalkeeping heroics of 40-year-old Brad Guzan. On Saturday, though, a flat-footed Atlanta was outplayed by Orlando and fell short in the conference semifinals. Vulnerabilities from the past year proved decisive in the end. Atlanta conceded 13 goals from set pieces during the regular season, and Orlando's only goal in Saturday's match came the same way: Argentine striker Ramiro Enrique was unmarked in the box and scored off a dead-ball situation. And just like that, Atlanta's inspiring playoff run comes to an end. Silver lining? Orlando just made their first-ever Eastern Conference final and could make more history next Saturday night. -- Lizzy Becherano Even if Real Madrid are not in an outright disastrous position at this halfway stage of the revamped Champions League, there's no escaping the fact that they are in a precarious -- not to say embarrassing -- one. With Wednesday's fixture against Liverpool at Anfield staring them aggressively in the face, at a time when Los Blancos' injury list is debilitating and when Carlo Ancelotti's team has shown its vulnerable side, they lie midtable, which is to say 18th, and two points off the relegation zone. Before we go any further, ask yourself this: can you ever remember Real Madrid being midtable, 18th or two points above the relegation zone in anything, in your life, ever? OK, there's no actual need for panic. Including this visit to the Premier League and Champions League leaders, the European champions have four games left to elevate themselves either into a safer position, which will bring a playoff in the spring, or to automatic qualification for the quarterfinals if they can claw their way into the top eight. But if Madrid are beaten in the northwest of England -- and that's not wholly improbable -- they could be overtaken by a handful of teams such as Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid, AC Milan or Benfica, and could slip further towards the bottom of the 36-team league where the peril begins to look grave. The hard fact is that despite two recent domestic thumpings handed out to lower-level teams, the current European champions go to Anfield with far too many problems in their haversacks. Their absentee list of injured stars includes: Éder Militão, David Alaba, Dani Carvajal, Aurélien Tchouaméni, Rodrygo and, crucially, Vinícius Júnior. Horrible. They still have a robust squad, and they'll still field an XI which would be the envy of many clubs in the upper echelons of world football -- but that's a hemorrhage of extraordinarily gutsy, talented, experienced, high-quality staff they've suffered. Last season, Ancelotti's team became champions despite a series of crippling injuries, but never so many at the same time. There is a balancing factor in that Thibaut Courtois returns in goal, which is of absolutely monumental importance. Jude Bellingham is returning to form, and Lucas Vázquez will be able to travel with the squad and potentially play at right-back. Still, losing Vinícius to hamstring injury is a huge blow to Madrid, especially against Liverpool. The Brazilian has been a perpetual nightmare for the Premier League side. The Spanish champions have an extraordinary recent record against the Reds, losing to them competitively only twice, not suffering defeat for 15 years, and beating Liverpool in two recent Champions League finals. Vinícius has been at the heart of a lot of this, producing goals and assists (seven in total) to torment the Anfield men. This season, in all competitions, the devastating Brazilian has contributed 20 goals -- scoring or assisting -- in only 18 appearances. What a loss. But whether or not Madrid confirm their perpetual You can't damage us, we're Teflon! attitude and win, or are defeated and forced to lick their wounds and then prepare for Everyone on deck! over the remaining three fixtures, it's worth pointing out that this situation has helped expose more of Florentino Perez's hypocrisy. I don't think it was a good weekend for Madrid's president, who used the annual general meeting to trumpet his views to the members of the club and, by association, via the media to the entire world. He trotted out some nonsense about how Vinícius would have won the Ballon d'Or if it weren't for the odd behaviour of voting nations such as Uganda, Namibia, Albania and Finland. It was nothing more than a swipe of a haughty billionaire's arm at the boardroom table. He unilaterally dismissed these countries' footballing worth or relevance. In his diatribe, he was clear that from his standpoint the people voting from these countries were nobody, and known to nobody. He treated their international credibility in a humiliating manner. What he forgot to take into account was that these nations gave votes and points to Karim Benzema or Courtois when the Frenchman won and the Belgian placed seventh in the 2022 Ballon d'Or. There was no complaining then: simply, a quiet satisfaction that the serfs had voted the way that they were supposed to vote. Perez was hypocritical then, but still more so when throwing mud at the Champions League format. Perez went on to claim that a one-year-old European court ruling had freed soccer from the tyrannical yoke of FIFA and UEFA. Twelve months on and, don't forget, nothing specific has happened because of that ruling. But Madrid's president still considered it important to imply that the sport had enjoyed a ludicrous emancipation. It seemed nonsensical on its own, but he compounded the error by warbling on about his beloved Super League project, stating that there was growing support for it and ignoring the fact that he and his allies were not only roundly defeated the last time they brought this project to the table, but also humiliated by the ineptitude of their timing, their communication and by the way in which a landslide of general football opinion went against them. Yet, he continues to tout it. The thing he wants most from it is more revenue for the big clubs. He pretends that it can be a panacea to the amount that football fans have to pay to watch the teams -- not an unfair complaint -- and a solution to the way in which the governing bodies are squeezing all the goodness, creativity and durability out of our best footballers. What was always at the centre, and I presume still remains at the centre of Perez' Super League idea, is that the big clubs play the big clubs nonstop. No riffraff. The inherent detriment to domestic football around Europe was the Achilles heel that he failed to understand fans would (still) revolt about. Anyway, on a glitzy and surface level only, the idea of Europe's great names playing each other repeatedly, and not having to bother with troublesome trips to Czechia, Scotland, Finland or Norway, etc., might seem seductive to some. But the ironic, cynical laughter that will pursue them if they are either left struggling or eliminated because of failing against Liverpool and Milan, the very midweek fixtures they crave over and over again in their Super League, would be revenge served ice-cold for those opposed to Perez' selfish plans. Wednesday will be an occasion where footballers such as Kylian Mbappé, Courtois, Bellingham and Federico Valverde will have to absolutely shine and where a draw will be more than sufficient. But there's a chance of defeat for the champions which would leave egg on the face of their ambitious president, and his team in a horribly difficult qualifying position.
