India, April 12 -- Jude Bellingham's first start since Feb. 1 was not enough to spark a Real Madrid revival as they drew with Girona 1-1 and missed a chance to put pressure on La Liga leader Barcelona.

Bellingham was withdrawn after 10 minutes in a game against Rayo Vallecano and subsequently missed nine club matches, including the twin victories over Manchester City that took Real Madrid into the Champions League quarterfinals.

He made three substitute appearances in Madrid's previous three games but started against Girona in a fixture the home side needed to win to cut into Barcelona's seven-point lead. Instead, Madrid ended the night ruing missed opportunities.

Federico Valverde put Madrid 1-0 up six minutes into the second half whe...