Jude Bellingham has achieved a dream he has held ever since joining Birmingham City's academy in reaching a Champions League Final.
Now 20 years of age, he and his Real Madrid teammates entered the second leg of their semi-final against Bayern Munich locked at 2-2 on aggregate. Any thought of home advantage was wiped away when Alphonso Davies put the Germans ahead with little time to spare at a stunned Santiago Bernabeu, however in this competition Los Blancos just seem to always find a way.
Up stepped former Newcastle United and Stoke City striker Joselu from the bench, and it was he - two years on from travelling to Paris as a supporter to watch the club win their record 14th Champions League title - who bagged a brace to flip the script out of nothing.
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"They talk about how they won the 14th, how they want the 15th. You can never be settled," Bellingham told TNT Sports whilst in a state of euphoria. "The players feel like family, the fans feel like family."
Circumstance has lined up an almost perfect scenario for the midfielder's first appearance in a European final. Having departed Borussia Dortmund for the Spanish capital last summer in a deal worth up to £114m, he faces a showdown with his former club at the home of English football, Wembley Stadium, no less.
"At Wembley, against Dortmund, it's a weird one, I can't believe it," he added, before admitting: "When I was seven years old in Birmingham, I was dreaming of nights like this."
Maybe he envisioned it slightly differently, in a Blues shirt with Birmingham City to win the European Cup, or at worst against his boyhood club. But one is for certain - this special player that has been casually breaking records set by Cristiano Ronaldo and won his first La Liga title just weeks ago has yet another chance to make history for himself and his new club on June 1, 2024.
