Jude Bellingham vows to rise to the occasion of the Champions League final as the England star gets set for the game he's been dreaming of all his life

Jude Bellingham began the build-up to the Champions League final between his Real Madrid side and his former club, Borussia Dortmund, at Wembley this weekend by saying he had been dreaming of playing in club football’s showpiece occasion all his life.

Bellingham, 20, who has enjoyed a stellar first season at the Bernabeu and will go to the Euros this summer as England’s key man, was speaking at Real Madrid’s pre-final media day at their lavish Valdebebas training complex on the outskirts of the Spanish capital.

He has already helped lead the club to the La Liga title this season, scoring 19 league goals in a number 10 role in which he has shone and when he spoke to the hundreds of media who had flocked to the training ground, he talked with the same impressive maturity that has marked all his media appearances.

‘It’s definitely special,’ Bellingham said. 

‘But I think the preparation has to be the same as it is for every game. It’s important to be me, and not to worry too much about the emotional side.

‘I’m really excited. The final is a game I’ve been dreaming of since I started playing football. 

'I understand the opportunity and I don’t want to waste a second. It’s a game I’ve dreamed of all my life. It would be stupid now to get here and want to hide away from the occasion.’

Bellingham said he had not spoken to any of his former team-mates in Germany recently but had swapped texts with Dortmund’s on-loan Manchester United winger Jadon Sancho some time ago and told him he would see him in the final.